Long Distance Lifeline
by AnyDaAngel
Summary: Bella and Edward meet, and gradually find out that you tend to find the answers to questions that you never dared to ask aloud when you're the least prepared for it. Rating is for future action and/or violence..no lemons. All Human, slightly older B&E.
1. Bare Feet, Grape Jelly And New Friends

Disclaimer: Bella, Twilight – and (sadly) Edward belong to Stephenie Meyers. I only own an over-active imagination and a slightly used passport. I also tend to only write about subjects with which I'm familiar – hence, Edward and Bella are flying out from the southern United States. (I'll write about Forks after I've seen it..one of these days..)

Summary: Bella and Edward meet, and gradually find out that you tend to find the answers to questions that you never dared to ask aloud when you're the least prepared for it.

Chapter: 1

"Bare Feet, Grape Jelly and New Friends"

{Song: Biscuits & Gravy – David Stephens}

It would be a lie, for anyone to think that Bella wasn't scared, the day of her departure from all that was familiar to her. She wasn't petrified, just nervous and anxious..and terrified. What if she hadn't made the right choice? What if she was really meant to do nothing more with her life than just live out the same existence in the small town that she'd grown up in? What was really waiting for her, at the end of the flight that would deliver her to the other side of the world in a matter of mere hours?

She was sure that everyone around her could sense her last minute indecision, She never could hide anything from the world, thanks to what her mother had lovingly labeled her "open-book-facial expressions". There were many people around her that she was quite sure were on their return trip home. They seemed happy enough, that was a good thing, right?

She quickly checked for the documents that she would be needing: Tickets, check. Passport, check. Address of the place she'd need to find a ride to once she arrived, check. The book she fondly called her 'Sword', check. Pocket money that would buy her snacks and any other small entertainments she may need, check. Everything seemed to be well and good. She'd used up five whole minutes.

She smiled, chuckled at her silliness, and rose to her feet to go in search of the one thing that would calm her fears and anxiety.

Just as she caught her reflection on the metal wall trim of a small fast food airport diner, she giggled. She had unknowingly, and quite openly for the world to see - followed her nose to this particular eatery. She had probably looked like a dog, sniffing up to a grilling steak on July 4th that she couldn't quite reach.

So much for looking "all grown up" to the world around her. It truly is hard to be vain, when you're stuck with all of the many quirks she had. She shook her head, and took her place in line, trying to make her selection before she had her turn to place an order.

Suddenly, Bella was remembering a time when she was a small child. She was with her Grandmother, and Her Grandmother was having the hardest time ascertaining just what kind of breakfast biscuit Bella wanted that morning. Her kind Grandmother tried reading all of the choices off the menu to her to be helpful, but by then, Bella could already read; She simply couldn't make a decision.

Did she want an egg biscuit? Sausage? Bacon? Did she want cheese? The young Bella just scrunched her face up, and wanted to cry. She wanted one of each, if she was being truthful. Knowing that asking for such a thing would be quite selfish, she ordered the next best thing. A plain biscuit with butter. The younger Bella secretly hoped that they would give her honey and jams to go with it. With butter, one doesn't really need to choose a breakfast meat. You could just enjoy the biscuit in all its glory... "Ma'am? Do you need more time?" Bella was mortified. She still hadn't chosen.

Just then, Bella caught another glimpse of her own reflection. She was no longer a child, and her Grandmother had long since departed this world in favor of the bright one Bella was certain she had entered into. Bella was a grown up with her own money to pay for her meal. She could now have one of each biscuit.

She smiled sweetly at the very tired looking girl. "No, I'm ready now. I'll have one egg and cheese biscuit, one sausage biscuit, one bacon biscuit, and one plain biscuit..with butter and jellies on the side, please." The waitress stared back at her, and then gave Bella a once-over. Apparently, she thought Bella was a bit piggie. Ah, well. The waitress blinked, and asked if Bella wanted juice. She said yes, and ordered some cranberry juice..and then added some hashbrowns. The waitress just shook her head, and smiled to herself as she handed Bella the ticket with her order number on it. As if Bella would need it, she thought to herself. Who else would order so much food for themself?

"One of each biscuit with hashbrowns!" The young worker called out, a bit sarcastically. Bella rose to her feet, surprised that her order was so quickly filled - it appeared that her order had jumped in line somehow. She ran up to the counter, and reached just as she saw another hand reach for the exact same order. It was a lovely hand, very masculine. Somebody who clearly chewed on their nails. Beauty is found in the flaws, had always been Bella's opinion. Of course, that was before she caught a glimpse of his reflection in that same slightly greasy metal trim on the wall behind the counter.

Ah. If this man had any flaws other than his nervous habit, it was clearly all personality. He stopped and stared at Bella's hand that was obviously reaching for his order. Ouch. Great, now he could join the girl at the register in thinking how piggie she was. Bella blushed furiously, and apologized as she darted away, to hide until the twin to his order was called out.

Bella silently chided herself. Great. She was acting more and more mature by the minute, she sarcastically told herself. The stranger took his order, and walked away without a backwards glance.

Bella should know, she caught herself watching him walk away. She was mortified, and suddenly wondering how she was going to eat the the contents of her own bag o' gluttony she had ordered.

She was so embarrassed at what the world had witnessed. It was likely that nobody really cared, but it felt as though the entire world was laughing at her. Her order was finally called out, and she ran up to grab it. She thanked the girl, and walked off to find a place to sit and munch as she had another inward conversation.

Apparently, everyone else had decided that now was the time to have a snack or meal - there were no free tables in the self-serve dining area. Bella dragged her carry-on next to a large planter, and had just taken off her shoes to sit down on the floor like a child in kindergarten when she heard an unfamiliar, yet comforting voice. She raised her head to find that she had chosen the one planter out of at least twenty that had the other biscuit lover sitting on the opposite side.

She silently started cursing the Scottish immigrants who had introduced biscuits to people in the southern states long before she was born. Then, she heard it again, and realized that she had heard his voice, and she'd already tucked it away in her memory without even having understood a word he'd said.

What was it with her today? Honestly, she was not normally quite this scatterbrained. Close, but not quite. Bella blinked, as if to make sure that he was really addressing her, and then apologized for the second time in less than an hour. "I'm sorry, sir, what did you say?"

He smiled, and gestured toward the chair across from him. Oh. He was offering her a seat. Bella Swan, the biscuit bandit. She blushed a few shades darker, and stared down at her bag that contained enough to feed a small family of three. The food was likely rapidly getting colder, as she sat there trying to make up her mind.

She raised her head, nodded and smiled as she rose to her feet, and relocated to the seat that he'd motioned for her to choose. It was opposite of his, obviously with no large planter between them. Her heart soared, while her lungs fought to take in air, and then to let it back out again. She decided that maybe we're all still high school geeks with a crush on the homecoming prince that we never quite grow out of.

Bella sat down, just as the butterflies took flight inside her stomach. How was she going to eat a single thing now? That is, until she noticed that her new-found dinner companion was just now opening his bag of food. Odd. She had to wait at least ten minutes after he'd gotten his order.

His smile widened, and all of her thought processes seemed to go on strike, arguing with someone else's mind for the time being about their need for higher wages. He reached his left hand up and ran his fingers through his hair while the other hand twirled the twist cap from his juice around in circles on the table. She nervously opened her bag 'o gluttony, and peered down into it. Which should she try first?, she halfheartedly mused. He mirrored her movements, and she realized that they were both observing eachother's movements in exactly the same fashion.

He laughed a nervous laugh, and politely asked which of the assortment she was going to try first. Bella sighed, and knew that her face was mirroring the same expressions that she'd had all of those years ago with her grandmother. Bella decided that she couldn't choose objectively without having a peek at all of the choices, so she began unwrapping them, one by one. He smiled a receptive smile, and mirrored her actions. Once they were all unwrapped, Bella chose the same choice of her childhood. Butter with..grape jelly. He looked in his own paper sack for a second, and then frowned.

"Uh, they gave me two strawberry jellies instead of one of each..I'm not sure why, I hate strawberry and told the girl that.." Bella giggled, and gently pushed the other half of her jelly serving to his side of the table.

She never really had understood why the companies put enough for two servings in a single serving of jelly, until that very moment. It had always been one of those annoying things about life - like why they put less and less girl scout cookies in a box, or why the light always turns red just as you pull up to an intersection. Bella raised her head, having prayed over her food, to catch him still mirroring her actions..only his head had been bowed slightly longer than hers; though it appeared as if he was only doing it out of respect for her.

He cleared his throat, and took a sip of his juice. Bella did the same. It was beginning to feel like a clown act of shadow boxing. Bella quietly sighed again, this was turning out to be one of the most bizarre days of her existence. His voice brought her out of her silent musings again.

"I'm really sorry that I'm not saying anything, I'm trying so hard to not say the wrong thing. I'm really trying hard to not say something that would have you darting off to hide..You seemed a little skittish back there, and.. I'm sorry if I was rude earlier when the order was called out.." He really was being so kind to her, and she couldn't understand why he had chosen her for a dinner companion. Beyond that, how did he know that she had a tendency to hide from people? It was a childish habit that she'd tried for years to break.

_Say something!!!! Bella_ could hear the voice in her head arguing with the voice in her heart. Her head told her just how crazy it would be to strike up a relationship of any kind with someone in an airport, while waiting for a flight to go to the other side of the world. Her heart was whispering how one can never have too many friends. He was only being kind to her, and such kindness deserved at least a polite conversation.

Bella took a bite of her grape jelly and butter biscuit as a way of stalling while she tried to think of the right thing to say. Having chewed an inordinate long time, she had to swallow the mouthful, and still had no opening lines. So, she opened her mouth, and waited to be surprised with whatever came out. This was an action that she didn't often enjoy, but it was quite necessary sometimes to just turn off the filter between her brain and mouth if she intended to have any conversation at all.

"I wasn't hiding from you. I was hiding from the world, ashamed of the fact that I was about to eat enough breakfast food to feed a family of four." He jumped slightly as she'd begun to speak, almost as if he hadn't really expected her to say anything, and then he laughed at her honesty.

"Well, I have to admit, I am wondering where you plan to put all of that.." Bella childishly frowned, and gestured toward his own display of gluttony. "Yea, well - I don't see how you have any room to cast any stones there, buddy." He shook his head, and took another sip of his orange juice. She felt as though her staring at his throat was inappropriate, but she couldn't help herself. Leave it to her to find Mr. Perfection while she was waiting in an airport for a flight that would take her so far away.

"Mr. Perfection, huh?" She wanted to die. This was a prime example of why she didn't normally turn off that brain-to mouth filter. Suddenly, private thoughts were not her own anymore. She gazed at her bare feet, and wondered why she never really have liked wearing shoes. She liked shoes well enough, she just didn't like to wear them on her feet.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better.." He smiled, and began to unlace his boots. Ok, scratch wanting to die. Bella was now beyond that. Now, she just wanted to run away. Why hadn't she just stayed behind the nice and safe oversized planter?

"You know, uh.. maybe I should introduce myself. My name is Edward. I'm named after a dead guy who managed to endear himself to everyone around him, though nobody really knows how he did it. My Mom thought the notion of people not having a choice whether they liked you or not was romantic. At least his name wasn't Horatio or something.." He smiled widely and stretched his hand out, as if offering his hand to shake. Now, any proper gentleman should know that the lady is supposed to offer her hand first, but Bella decided that she didn't mind. Well, she didn't mind, until she realized that she'd gotten grape jelly on his hand, and she blushed a darker shade than normal. _Just how __old was she, again? _Bella nodded, and said how nice it was to make Edward's acquaintance, and introduced herself.

"My name is Isabella. I was named after a woman (Oh yes, of course she was a woman..) Isabella Bird. She was a famous traveler and author. My Dad always dreamed of traveling to foreign places and having adventures.. I hate my first name, and only answer to 'Bella'. You know what? my Dad's middle name is Edward."

Bella wanted to kick herself (and would have, if she'd been standing up) for her verbal diarrhea. Edward had a sheepish look on his face. She guessed at what had caused that expression to grace his features, and so she quickly added: "Don't worry, you're nothing like my Dad." He smiled then, and looked at where their hands met. That must have been when Edward first realized that his hand was now sticky with grape jelly.

They both seemed to feel self conscious about holding hands, as they were no longer shaking hands; so they both let go simultaneously, and reached for their egg and cheese biscuits next. It was as if they didn't even have to watch the other to mirror their actions..they simply acted as though they were the same person. Well, sort of. He hadn't shown himself to be as weird as she tended to consider herself.

He chuckled, and a twinkle glinted in his eyes as he lowered his head and brought his grape jelly smeared hand to his mouth, even with the biscuit still in his grasp. Bella smiled, and decided that he had evened the score. He didn't even know her, yet he trusted her enough to do that. Or maybe he was just weird, though she something told her that wasn't the case. Oh, the things that can happen while you're in an airport, waiting for take off.

The Edward that is mentioned: Edward King - British Poet (1612 – 1637)

{A/N: So, my song choice – if you decided to give it a listen – was an odd selection, I agree...but, honestly – I had to put in a plug for an amazing musician, and they DID fly out of the deep south...It's highly unlikely that any other songs will have the same sound, though. I'm not really attached to any one genre...

Also, about updating..I plan to have this story updated at least once a week, but I also don't tend to make plans, as I never seem to stick to them. So, in the event that you think this has become a cobweb, and you want to see another chapter, let me know. I may be waiting to hear from you.}


	2. Hand Wipes, Dolls And Disposables

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyers owns Bella, the imagination of several generations, Edward (she's not returning my calls about giving him up..) and a lot of fan mail. I own a slightly used passport, 1974 VW Beetle and very over-active imagination....

Chapter: 2

"Hand wipes, Dolls and Disposables"

{Miracle – Vertical Horizon}

They both giggled like best friends, when they decided that the buttered biscuit with the grape jelly had indeed been the best of all. Bella didn't want their little bubble of happiness to be broken, but that was the sad reality of meeting your new best friend in an airport. Edward was clearly in the military; Bella knew the type. It was highly unlikely that she would ever see him again.

He saw a peek of an American Girl doll that she was carrying in her backpack when she unzipped it to get out a hand-wipe, rather than rush off to a restroom, and risk letting him get away. He had a strange look in his eyes when she used the hand wipe, and Bella suddenly wondered if she'd done something wrong.

"Uhm, is something wrong?" He shook his head, and smiled, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. "No, not at all. I'm sorry – Uh.. My mother used to carry those hand wipe things around when I was a kid, and I was just remembering that.. Though, I couldn't help but notice the "dolly" that you're taking on the trip with you. Scared much? This your first trip off by yourself?" His eyes were twinkling as he teased her about the doll.

She was dazzled by his disarming smile. "Oh, it's not like that. Her name is..well, actually she hasn't been named yet. It's a present to a little girl I plan on seeing when I get to where I'm going. Her grandmother begged me to bring it along, and I couldn't refuse.. The little girl's parents are missionaries, and I know they don't get presents from home very often.."

The twinkle in his eyes had extinguished, and again, she was feeling inadequate – as if she'd done something wrong. This time, he seemed to read her feelings from her eyes. "No, stop feeling as if it's you. It's nothing you've said or done..I've just never met someone who could remind me so much of my childhood in one sitting.. You're actually very much like a breath of fresh air. I haven't felt as though I've been able to really take a deep breath for a while, thank you for that." Bella blushed, and shyly nodded her head, even though she still felt responsible in some way for erasing the smile from his face.

She'd never met someone that was so confusing, yet so entrancing. He was like a drug, and she couldn't seem to get enough. She tried to mentally shake herself out of it. After her flight took off, she'd likely never see him again. Having thought about them parting again nearly made her cry..which then made her laugh out loud. Had two perfect strangers ever caused the other to have such sudden mood swings before?

"So, you're taking a present to an MK.. Where are you headed, anyway? I could give you some pointers about the natives wherever you're going.. I've been a few places, myself." His offer was very kind, and while Bella had been told to not tell everyone she met about her trip, she couldn't seem to keep it to herself.

She told him that she was on her way to Asia to be a missionary. His eyes clouded over, and his breath caught in his throat. He looked as if he were struggling with something unseen when he met her eyes with his own seemingly haunted ones. For a moment, he looked like a very lost little boy.

"Stay out of the refugee camps or villages if you can help it. They're not safe, and I don't want to have to come in after you!" He tried to make his voice sound light, but she could tell that it took a lot for him to say what he did.

"So, Ms. Bella, what flight are you taking to Asia tonight?" She proudly pulled out her language study book. It had a picture of the country's flag on the cover. Edward blinked, and then shook his head. "Ah. I should have known. You're the newest model of missionary to be shipped out there, huh? Don't they ever get tired of using people as if they're disposable hand wipes?"

Bella flinched, and had to blink back tears. Who was he, to make these claims? Some soldier who had clearly seen far too many battles. He didn't know her. He didn't know the people where she was destined to be. He didn't know where she'd been, or where she planned to go with her life. He didn't know anything!

"Well, yes. I am the newest model from a long line of people so incompetent that they were only useful to send and dump off to work themself to death caring for people until their expiration date comes up. Disposable Missionary Number 118, at your service." She stood up and did a mock bow.

Edward looked like he couldn't decide whether he should cry or scold her. He chose neither. Taking a deep breath, he held the bridge of his nose between his right thumb and forefinger. "That's not the way that I meant it. I'm so sorry, that was inexcusable for me to say. I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you that I buried my parents in the neighboring country of where we're both headed. Missionaries model 01 and 02 off of the production line.."

It was her turn to flinch. What was it about this young man that made her want to scream at him, and hug him at the same time? "I'm sorry, I didn't realize. Wow, I haven't apologized this much since a blind date I had with Eric Yorkie back in high school.." He laughed, and they let go of their differences for the time being. It was their truce of sorts, and they began to talk again, avoiding the touchier subjects.

Bella had never been one to believe that anything in life ever happens without a reason, but even she failed to see how this new friendship could ever work out. They both shrugged, deciding that it didn't really matter. As it turned out, they were both on the same flight..so, they made their way to the gate from where they'd been sitting. They found themselves sitting in those not-so-surprisingly uncomfortable seats located in the somewhat generic waiting lounge area.

Edward told her of how all of the men in his family had served their country in turn. He didn't like the unpleasant side of his job, but his eyes lit up when he talked about all of the people that he and his 'brothers' had helped. He knew places, and he remembered names. Liberty, security and safety come at such a high price.

Bella shuddered at the risk and danger involved with Edward's every day life. Sure, she was prepared to die for whom she believed in, but Edward cringed when she said that she didn't feel comfortable with having any form of weapon on or near her person. He didn't feel entirely comfortable with her personal stand of "non resistance". At that moment, she was struck with the question that she didn't dare ask – how had his father, who had served in the military also, chosen to serve as a missionary? Bella sighed, she would likely never know.

To put it simply, Bella didn't believe in fighting back. She felt that there was no way to know about the current state of an enemy's salvation. She should be prepared at all times to meet her Creator. It only made sense to her that God knows what He's doing, and she trusted His plan for her life, no room for doubt.

This didn't really get into the whole matter of protecting the innocent. Bella cringed to think of a young child being in danger, and of herself doing nothing. If she had the power to do something for the innocent, she liked to think that she would..but Bella prayed that her faith on the matter would never be tested.

Bella smiled wistfully at her new best friend. "You know what they say about unanswered prayer? It's all a lie. There are no 'unanswered' prayers. The answer is always "yes", "no", or "wait". At any given time, there is simply no way to know what the answer to my future prayer would be, so I can't really imagine making immediate eternal decisions for someone else while holding a gun..."

There was no way for the two of them to know that they had just met the answer to their prayers, and the prayers of others in an airport, waiting for a plane that would take them each into a very different world. Whether Edward understood it or not - his ancestry had been standing up to Giants for generations. True to the heritage of his name, he had a personality that made people either feel at ease or threatened in his presence; and he would realize there is a reason that every coin has two sides.

Bella knew that she still had so much to learn, and she was excited to get on with taking the next step toward her own destiny. She simply had no idea how far a trip that may take her. She longed to see miracles, though she'd never asked for such an opportunity. While she knew that it wasn't true, she couldn't shake the words of her catholic grandmother when she'd been growing up. _"Now, Bella – Jesus is so very busy, we don't need to trouble Him with little things from our own selfish desires..." _Bella had always tried to ask for as little as possible, never having forgotten her grandmother's words, truth or not.

{I realise that this starts off slowly, but come on – any relationship has to start somewhere.}


	3. Neighbours, Enemies & Shiny Sweet Things

Disclaimer: Bella, Mike, and Jessica belong to Stephenie Meyers... Yea, ok – Edward too. I own..a really cool sewing machine, an over-active imagination, a bunch of empty diaries and some used plane ticket stubs..

Chapter: 3

Neighbours, Enemies and Shiny Sweet Things

{Song: Mo' Pop – Dot Allison}

As Bella boarded the plane, she felt badly. For the first time in her life, she was sorry that some people could be so thoughtful as to give a soldier their first class seat. She and Edward had been standing in line together when an older man came up, shook Edward's hand, and insisted that Edward take his place in the preferred seating.

She had planned on taking glances at him whenever she had found opportunity. Now, that wasn't going to happen. She sighed, and looked at the ceiling above her, though in her mind she only saw the sky beyond. _"Why did I meet him, at the time in my life when I thought You had other plans for me?" _She was entirely silent within her being, but there was no reply.

Bella smiled when it was finally her turn to board the plane. The flight attendant smiled at her, and winked. "He's adorable. Don't worry, you should see him again when we get there – even first class has to get their bags." Bella's smile widened, and she saw that the name tag for that flight attendant was "Chris".

Chris' eyes were dancing, as if the two of them were conspiring together; and in a way, Bella decided that maybe they were. Bella nodded, and was the last passenger to be seated.

Her seat was right next to a rather athletic blonde named Mike. She inwardly cringed as soon as she heard the name. She'd never been very fond of people with that name. Mike proceeded to tell her all about himself, his hopes, his dreams – and his good luck with he ladies. Bella politely nodded her head, and plugged in her headphones. She'd rather listen to reject Latina music than continue the one-sided conversation with Mike.

About half way through the flight, Bella was brought out of her dream-state with the feeling that she was being watched. She peeked her head around the side of the chair in front of her, and saw him. He was talking to a stewardess, but his eyes were on Bella. He smiled, and gave her a mock salute.

Chris the stewardess turned her head, and smiled at Bella, giving her a thumbs up that Edward couldn't see. Bella blushed about twenty varying shades of red. She was glad that Mike was asleep, even if he was drooling and snoring at the same time.

Edward seemed to notice her flight companion for the first time, and his eyes narrowed into slits. Bella's face had a look of bewilderment, as to why Edward would dislike a person at first sight. Edward noticed her reaction, and he shook his head, smiling his dazzling smile once again. Chris pretended to swoon at the sight, Bella laughed.

Edward did a mock bow, as if he were in an ancient variety show and winked. Chris said something in his ear, and he waved just before he turned and went beyond the curtain to his seat. Chris shook her head, and smiled the conspiratorial smile at Bella again. "He'll be there", she mouthed to Bella; then she too disappeared beyond the curtain.

Bella shook her head, and went back to her day dreaming. She was thankful that Mike wasn't on her connecting flight. He was chasing a dream, trying to make it to the big time as a hip-hop singer. Bella didn't doubt that it would work out for him – it seemed to her people will buy anything with a "pretty face" on the cover or shockingly obscene lyrics. It seemed to Bella that Mike could offer both.

She was jarred from her musings and daydreaming just in time to raise her seat into it's landing position as the plane began its descent. She wondered what it would be like when she finally had to say goodbye to Edward, until her smile faltered, and she decided to put it out of her mind and enjoy the time that they had..if he hadn't already changed his mind about her.

Once the plane had landed, Mike was very helpful and courteous. He insisted on getting Bella's luggage from the overhead bin, and then he insisted on carrying it for her to the gate. Bella wanted to insist that he didn't need to do either, but when she tried to, Mike just talked over her voice as if she weren't speaking at all.

"Alright, miss Bella, I guess this is where we say goodbye. I don't have any luggage other than my carry-on, but I'd be happy to help you with yours.." Mike smiled at her with a hopeful look in his eyes. Bella saw a tall and lanky figure topped off with bronze hair approach at a speed that seemed inhuman.

"That won't be necessary, thank you so much. Bella, this way – we don't have a very long wait for the next flight." Edward reached out for her hand with his left, and took her carry-on from Mike with the other. Mike jumped and made a little chirping noise of shock, before his eyes became harsh. "Well, hello again, Mr. Anderson. I guess this means she's all yours." Mike gave Bella one last wistful glance up and down until Edward cleared his throat. Mike seemed to be jarred back into reality at the sound, and he said his goodbye very hurriedly as he made his exit from Bella's personal space. Then, he entered into the world where anything could happen, and everything very likely will.

Bella reached for her carry-on, but Edward refused to be out-done by a white hip-hop artist wannabe. Bella just sighed, and looked expectantly at Edward. Edward shrugged and continued walking with her carry-on in tow as they headed in the direction of the luggage carousel. Bella heard a giggle behind her, so she turned around and saw Chris waving with her eyes twinkling. She mouthed the words "good luck!", Bella blushed and waved back.

Edward looked down at Bella, "You want to know something that I swore I wouldn't say?" Bella blushed a darker shade of red from her previous pink and nodded, Edward shook his head. "I don't know why, but I feel very protective of you. That guy came a little too close to losing his perfectly straight-toothed smirk." Bella slowed her walking, and memorized the bewildered look on Edward's face.

When they finally reached the luggage carousel, a young woman named Jessica introduced herself, and asked for Edward's help getting her luggage off the machine. While he politely went to retrieve it for her, Jessica turned to look Bella up and down, much in the same way that Mike had. "It's like kindergarten all over again, and you're the shiny new toy. Where did the blonde hunk go, and where can I get one?" Bella forced a smile in the wake of Jessica's obvious sarcasm.

"Oh, you can have that one. He's going to be performing at this place tomorrow night, if you wanted to see him again." Bella handed the rude young woman a flyer that Mike had given her, in hopes that her flight would be delayed long enough for Bella to attend. Jessica's eyes lit up. "Oh! You won't be needing this?" Bella shook her head, and tried to not let her forced smile waver. She'd rather spend three days locked in an airport terminal closet than attend Mike's show.

Jessica snatched up the flyer, and put it in her handbag, took her suitcase from Edward without saying thank you, and walked away. Bella shook her head, and smiled up at Edward's bewildered look. "She has a date with Blondie." Edward scowled at the mention of the pest from earlier, until it dawned on him what had transpired. "Good. They deserve each other." Bella laughed, and Edward joined in.

Once they both had their bags – or, rather, once Bella convinced Edward to let her take care of their carry-ons while he had their checked bags, they both made their way to the desk where they could check in their bags for the international flight.

Once they had their bags checked in, Bella looked at her itinerary, and compared it with the up-to-date schedules on the screen that was nearest to her. She realized that the flight had actually been pushed back a little, not forward; but she didn't mention it to Edward. She'd been grateful for his diversion to get her away from Mike.

Edward turned, having thanked the agent for taking care of their bags. "So, are ya hungry?" Bella shook her head, and smiled. He laughed, and scratched the back of his neck. "Thank goodness. I was wondering where I was going to put it.." They decided to just walk through the terminal, and window shop.

When they stopped to look at a shop window that contained souvenirs with the airport's location on them, Edward let go of Bella's hand, told her to wait where she was standing and went in. Bella's eyebrows knit in a confused expression, and her face only smoothed out after he returned. Edward had a very proud grin on his face, when he presented her with a very ordinary-looking brown paper sack. Bella sighed impatiently. She hated to receive gifts.

Edward shook the bag in front of her, and finally, he ended their silent conversation. "Oh, come on. It's just a little thing. So you don't forget me." A shadow passed over Bella's face, and she reached for the bag as she tried to force herself to smile graciously. "Thank you, but I won't need this to remember you by, Edward." His smile was carefree again, and he reached into the bag himself because she was taking too long. His fingers pulled out a small acrylic keychain with a tiny red rose encased inside it's jewel-like cut. The edges of it caught the light like a prism, and seemed to give life to the flower inside.

Bella's breath caught in her throat, and for a moment, she seemed to be somewhere else entirely; then, her smile returned three fold, and she quickly attached it to the zipper pull on her backpack. Edward was pleased, and they continued their walking, window shopping, and chatting about nothing in particular.

Several times, Edward wanted to ask her what had been on her mind when she'd seen his cheap and unimpressive impulse gift, but the moment had seemed so private and he didn't want to scare her off by prying. He was just pleased that she hadn't turned up her nose or said how cliché of a gift it was.

Finally, they came to the end of new windows to peer into, and so they decided to walk toward their gate and check the departure time for their flight. On the way there, Bella's walking slowed in front of a bookshop. Edward noticed, but didn't say anything as they walked on by. If they still had enough time, they could return to browse the books if that was what she wanted to do.

At the gate, the agent informed them that they had at least another two hours before their departure, as the plane was having a thorough look-over. They both nodded, and Edward suggested the book store. Bella nodded her head excitedly, and they walked back toward the direction of the bookshop. On the way, Bella stopped at a newstand to buy some fruit candy.

Edward smirked at her with false disapproval. "You do realize that all of your teeth will rot and fall out if you eat too much of that stuff, right?" Bella opened up her red licorice and took a very impolite bite out of a piece. "Yea, but what good are teeth if they're only going to turn on you in the end, anyways? You can't let them control your life, Edward." She offered him a piece of her licorice, and he politely declined. Bella smirked, and kept chewing until she could finally swallow her mouth full of chewy red sugar. She tried to mirror the same look he'd given her earlier. "Come on, Edward – it's something to remember me by. You should feel honoured, I never share my licorice – just one?" He sighed, and accepted one piece of the one candy that he'd always hated.

He looked at her expectant smirk, and forcefully swallowed the lump of goo in his mouth. "Mmm. Yummy." Bella rolled her eyes, and looked away. "Pearls before swine", she muttered to herself. Edward chuckled, and steered Bella into the bookshop.

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A/N: In other news, in the event that you find a major typo, please let me know! :) I've noticed a few *boo-boos* in the other two chapters that I've already corrected :)


	4. Bookshop Casanova

Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I'm not even Mormon, though some people think I am... Oh, and the gentle of heart may need tissues toward the middle of this chapter.. Just another friendly reminder from your friends here at Kleenex©.

Chapter: 4

**Bookshop Casanova**

_{Song: Bookshop Casanova – The Clientele, What If? – Nichole Nordeman}_

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As they walked into the bookshop, Edward found himself oddly curious to find out what kind of literature caught Bella's interest. He loitered around the "Current Best-sellers" shelf as he watched her shop. Nothing having caught his interest, he checked to see if Bella was fully occupied with the children's picture books that she was admiring. She seemed to be settled in well enough to stay in that area for a while, so Edward headed toward the musical biography section. Sure enough, settled between a book about _Bono_ and a book about _Debussy_, he found a music composition sketch pad.

Edward hadn't written a thing in years. When he'd first joined the military, he'd often found himself writing music composition as a way of escape. He could hear all of the notes in his head, and while he didn't have a way with words, he shared his Father's gift of saying it with musical notes.

Edward was brought back from his memories by the scent of cherry licorice. His eyes blinked, and focused on the red sugary rope-like substance being dangled in under his nose. He heard Bella chuckle quietly, and he smiled. She whispered in his right ear. "You know, for you to hate this stuff so much, it didn't take long to wake you up with it!" Her eyes danced with his, and he'd never wished that he was someone else until that moment.

He wished that he hadn't made so many mistakes. He wished that he hadn't become the angry person he was. At the moment, the dark side of himself seemed so far away – but he knew all too well it was always only barely beneath the surface. For the time being, he forced all of the darkness within himself into a corner, and he locked it in a box. There it would hopefully stay until Bella wasn't around any longer to be disappointed by his darker side. He was sure that she would run the other way, if she knew what a monster he really was.

Edward leaned down under the guise of whispering in her ear, but he took in a deep breath of her scent as well. "I know you, you're the evil monster who lures men to eat sugary atrocities until their teeth fall out; and then you leave them – broken hearted and toothless. My mother warned me about you once." Bella made as wicked of a facial expression as she could, and put her hand over her heart. "Oh dear. You've caught me. I suppose I should go and find Mike afterall, as it seems my cover has been blown with you."

Edward growled. Or rather, his stomach did. Bella's eyes danced with Edward's again. She covered her mouth and giggled. "I thought you weren't hungry!" Edward shrugged and said they'd serve food on the plane. The two of them walked toward the sales desk to make their purchases.

The older woman behind the desk smiled at the pair with a nostalgic expression. "Forgive an old lady's nosy question; but are you two on your honeymoon?" Bella and Edward looked into each other's eyes, and both of their shocked expressions mirrored the other's. Edward put his arm around Bella and nodded. Bella stomped on his foot, and ended up catching her own foot under the edge of the desk – stubbing her toe as well.

Edward and the older lady laughed, as Bella's purchase was added to Edward's order. Bella turned and glared at Edward. He just kept a far too innocent expression on his face, and squeezed his arm around her tighter, before he had to use that hand to pull his card out of his wallet.

Bella was fuming as they left the store, after the woman called out "May all of your troubles be little ones!" Edward snickered, but tried to look apologetic when Bella crossed her arms and stood in front of the store, tapping her foot with impatience.

"What? Oh, Bella – come on. It made her day to think that we were together. Doesn't it make you feel good to know that you made an old lady smile?" Bella gave him one last hard look, then she bent over so that she could take her shoe off to check her foot. Edward snickered again, as he sat on the floor. He put her foot in his lap, and he examined her foot while she squirmed.

"You know, revenge always backfires." He said as he stared into her eyes, and Bella's breath caught in her throat again. She nodded, and had a sheepish expression on her face as she reached her hand out to help Edward to his feet. He put her shoe back on her foot as gently as though it were Cinderella's glass slipper. "Edward, it's fine – can we just go and wait for our plane now?"

He smiled to himself. He'd never liked the words "we" or "our" as much. Bella looked at him expectantly, and he shook his head as he let her help him from the floor.

"So, _Honey_, who's the children's book for?" Edward smirked, and Bella looked again like she would very much enjoy seeing him get run over by a train. "Don't call me that; and it's for the brother of the little girl who gets the doll in my backpack...after I read it." Edward wondered why she hadn't chosen to buy the _Bronte_ or _Austen _novels that she'd been smiling over giddily back at the bookshop, but now didn't really seem like the time to ask.

They walked back to their gate, and found a place to sit while they waited – though they ended up choosing to stand; as there would be plenty of time to sit while they were on the plane.

An elderly couple smiled when they reached the chairs that Edward and Bella had left empty. The older gentleman bowed to his wife, and held her bags while she seated herself. Then, she held his bags as he took the seat beside her.

Bella wasn't sure that she'd ever seen something so beautiful. The elderly lady felt Bella's stare, and smiled as she took in Bella and Edward's presence. Bella blushed, but couldn't bring herself to look away. The lady held up her husband's hand in her own, and smiled as she nodded toward Bella and Edward.

Bella shyly shook her head, and looked at her feet, remembering how she'd stubbed her toe earlier. Edward, not having been entirely oblivious to the exchange of universal language between the two women, smiled at the elderly couple and bowed ever so slightly. In any other instance, he would consider the older woman an old gossip or bitty. However, in this instance, he found the older woman charming.

That was when a stray thought struck Edward between the eyes. While Bella may be willing to be friends, it wasn't likely that she would be willing to be anything more; as they did not share the same faith. So, he had to find out just how rooted her faith really was; and to do that, he risked making her angry and arguing the entire way to Asia.

He smirked at the thought, because he knew that the two of them could likely argue as long as they both had breath. Edward reached his right hand to massage an imaginary tension in his neck. "Bella?" He began. She raised her head to look away from her feet that she'd stared at for an inordinate amount of time. "Hmm? Oh, sorry – did you say something?"

"Bella, how can you prove that your God exists? How do you know that He's not some figment of your imagination, or some big lie that you've been fed since childhood like Santa Clause?" Bella felt as though he'd slapped her, but knew that if she couldn't answer Edward's questions, then she wasn't worthy of calling herself a follower of any higher being.

How does one describe or explain faith? The word itself was not something that you could hold in your hands or measure with any form of scales or ruler. The old argument was that one doesn't actually see the wind, one feels the wind, and sees the effects of it. Bella shook her head to clear it, she didn't want to use that explanation, because there _are_ ways to measure the wind, even though it's still somewhat of a mystery.

It finally came down to letting Edward see her heart, and letting him go if that was what it came to. Bella inwardly chided herself. It shouldn't be very hard to let him go, because he wasn't hers in the first place; and they'd only known each other for a matter of hours. Then again, what was time – if not hours, minutes and seconds piled on top of each other?

"Edward, I don't believe blindly. Maybe my eyes haven't seen God, but I have felt Him. I've heard His voice. He's here with me now, and I'm not sorry if that offends you." Edward looked at her with all the scepticism of an atheist at first, then his eyes went black.

"Well, I'm glad that He chose to reveal Himself to you; because the night that our village was killed, He just sat back and ignored the screams." Bella's eyes filled with tears, and she hung her head. Edward felt terrible for making her cry, but he'd gotten the answer to his question.

Just then, the voice over the sound system called out numbers to be seated on the plane. As the crowd thinned out, and filed into the confines of the aircraft, Edward held back, and watched Bella stand partially behind a column, silently crying.

The worst of it that made him want to berate himself was that he'd wanted to make her cry. He'd wanted to see how strong she could be. He'd wanted to know that she didn't have all of the answers, and he'd wanted to make her doubt. He'd wanted to make her question her God, maybe _she _would get the answer that he'd demanded many times before.

Yet, even though he'd gotten exactly what he'd wanted, he didn't feel any better. Just as the last group was headed onto the plane, Edward tapped Bella on her right shoulder, and escorted her in the same direction that everyone else had gone. She followed him silently, and he began to feel his irrational anger slowly slipping from its confines within himself.

He tried to fight it back, he tried to remind himself that Bella was good and kind. He tried to remind himself that she was as innocent as his Mother had been..which was a mistake. The anger came out in waves, and his grip on her arm would likely leave bruises, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

When they neared the seat reserved for Bella, a flight attendant looked at him and the crying girl that he was escorting. With a caring look, she bowed to Bella, and asked if she would like to have the gentleman seated next to her. Edward looked at the seats next to Bella – they were all taken. Bella nodded, and the flight attendant nodded politely toward a young man who smiled at Bella shyly, and then he glared at Edward.

The young man bowed politely to Bella and the flight attendant. The flight attendant escorted the young man off toward the seat that Edward was sure had been reserved for him. Bella sat next to the window, and Edward sat next to her, with an older lady in the aisle seat. The lady looked at Edward suspiciously, and then seemed to go out of her way to not make eye contact again. _"Great,"_ Edward thought to himself, _"Even Granny hates me."_

Just after the plane had taken off, Bella turned and looked into Edward's eyes. He could see her heart in her eyes, pure and freshly broken. Bella took some deep breaths, and then looked at him as one would consider a rabid mountain lion. "Edward, please tell me what happened. What made you like this?"

He felt all of the air leave his lungs. He hadn't expected for her to ever speak to him again. His mouth suddenly felt dry and his palms sweated. He held the bridge of his nose tightly between his right thumb and forefinger.

He'd always heard that it was like ripping off a band-aid, but the truth was that there was no band-aid big enough in the world to wrap around what had happened that night in the village. Finally, He decided that it was only fair. He'd broken her heart, and now it was her turn to break his.

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{A/N: So, yea. They're finally on their way to their destination... If you're one of the very sweet people who have favourited my story, bless your heart! It totally made my day to know that people enjoyed what's been playing our in my mind for quite some time.}


	5. Grudges, Crosses & Ear Buds

Chapter 5:

**"Grudges, Crosses and Ear Buds"**

_Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie (or even Stephanie), though I've been called that all of my life when people got my name wrong..I do happen to own two new dresses that I made this week, a twitter account that I never use and a stack of new text books for school this coming semester..._

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_{Song: Gary Noise – Linus' Blanket, Iris – New Found Glory, Roadtrippin' – Big Poppa E, Because of You - Kelly Clarkson, Nada - Refreshments}_

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"Bella, it was never my intention to make you cry, please forgive me.." Edward shifted in his seat, and wanted to wish that he were anywhere else – but, when it came down to it; he'd want to be sitting next to Bella no matter what the situation was. This fact made him more nervous than he'd been the day that he had his fist military assignment.

Bella's watery brown eyes had depth that Edward couldn't even fathom. If it were possible, he'd happily drown in her eyes, and leave this world behind. Bella's brows knotted in confusion, before he saw a gentle realization smooth her features out again. "Edward, I think you misinterpreted my tears. I was not crying for me, I was crying for you, and what was lost in such a horrifically short amount of time."

Edward felt and looked as though she'd put a dagger into his chest. He didn't need or want her pity. Bella shook her head, and tried again to make him understand. "No, Edward – I don't pity you, or feel sorry for you. It's the loss of Human souls – the waste of human life. Blood spilled on the ground is just the beginning. In the margin, beyond the mention of a couple of martyr's names, they forgot to add that a child's innocence and all that was familiar or comforting for him was stolen away. I don't pity that child, my heart is broken for him."

Edward stared at her with an expression that he hoped was indifference, and not the hurricane of emotions spinning out of control inside his chest. How had she known? He hadn't told her enough to even point her in the direction of surmising what had happened to him that night. Innocence, comfort – what was he, a kindergärtner? He'd been a teenager when it happened.

"Bella, it wasn't like that. I wasn't a child when it happened. I was a teenager with something to prove that ran away when I had the chance. Their God didn't save them, nor did I. That makes us even, so maybe you should save your pity and heartbreak for Him. He lost the faith of one schmuck who had blindly trusted Him until that night." Edward turned away from her, and closed his eyes as he took deep breaths, and again held the bridge of his nose between his right forefinger and thumb.

Bella didn't understand, nor was it likely that she ever would. This was just his luck – to meet someone that made him feel alive, only to remind him that his heart was dead. He wanted to be like the doll in Bella's backpack – he didn't care how childish it was. He wished that he could hide away in a cave somewhere, until it all made sense. Nothing would matter then, he would be insane – because in reality, it would never make sense.

Bella looked like she was searching for the right words. Edward smirked at her. "Bella, who I am now has nothing to do with who I was. I'm an adult, and there is no going back. It's clear to me as it will likely be one day to you – that God doesn't exist. If He does, then He doesn't care about me. If that's the case, then I don't care about Him, either. You're not changing my mind."

Bella looked like she was going to cry again, and Edward's features softened. "Bella, look – we could argue for days, I'm not backing down. I'm not going to believe. It's late, and you need to sleep so that the jet lag doesn't kill you when you get to where you're going. Please – let's just try to sleep, alright?" She nodded, and closed her eyes. It stung him like a flame that there were still tears in her eyes when her face smoothed out and her breathing evened.

He cursed himself, because he would never be worthy of her. It had been wrong of him to even start something that he couldn't finish. Even so, he leaned his head back, and watched her sleep. She looked like an angel, and he felt worn out and useless for having caused a perfect stranger so much pain. Couldn't he do anything right?

In her sleep, Bella reached out for something, and smiled when she caught his hand that had been resting on the armrest. "Edward." Her voice had a gentle sound to it, as if she were talking about her own child, a puppy or a butterfly's first flight. He breathed in deeply, and sighed. Everything about her pulled him in, and he didn't know how to let her go. She was the perfect decoy, and he wanted very much to be angry about that, but he couldn't find the strength within himself.

What was likely to have been a few hours later, Edward was awakened by a sudden sound. He was disoriented at first, until he realized that the sound had come from Bella. She was crying as she thrashed around in her seat, and Edward knew that she would likely have bruises from the seatbelt being around her. He tried to shake her to consciousness, but after that failed, he sighed again.

He lifted the armrest between the two of them, unbuckled her seat belt, and pulled her into his arms. He wasn't sure how to feel or react when she immediately gave up her struggle, and said his name in that same way again before she sighed and rested in his arms. Who was she? Where had she come from – and how was he ever going to let her go? The closer that they got to their destination, Edward felt an increasingly painful sense of loss. He knew that he'd have to let her go forever once they arrived, and it was one of the few times since he'd watched his life go up in flames that he dearly wished that he could believe in God.

He wished that he believed in a merciful God who would give him a second chance – but there were no second chances in this life. If you failed, that was it – and there was no changing the outcome. Edward wanted desperately to believe that he wasn't entirely alone, but he knew better. In this world – the only person that you can trust or believe in is yourself; he'd learned that the hard way – and his parents had paid for that lesson with their lives.

There was no Heaven, other than being with Bella; and there was no Hell, other than the torment of failure. Edward knew that he was being selfish, but he didn't really care. If there really was a Hell, he knew that he would be going there anyway, so he didn't see any reason to worry about a little bit of selfishness when he'd failed to be strong so many times before. Somehow, he would make her see things as they really were. Then, he would be there to catch her just before she fell. These thoughts made his stomach turn when he thought of an earthbound angel falling into the hands of the monster that he was. If there ever had been a God – He made a grievous mistake when He allowed Edward to have met Bella. Edward swore that he wouldn't let her suffer the same disillusionment alone, as he had.

As the sun was coming up (or going down) over wherever they were, a meal was being served. The smell of coffee seemed to awaken Bella, and she looked up into Edward's eyes from the position that she'd found so comforting in her sleep. She blushed so many shades of red so quickly that even Crayola wouldn't have time to name all of the varying shades of red. She closed her eyes out of embarrassment, and quickly seated herself in an upright position. She stuttered her apology. "Ee-dward..I..I'm so..so sorry..Uhm.." She was wringing her hands when Edward finally smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I don't mind. If you feel the need to take another nap, it's fine – trust me." Bella blinked, and had a bewildered look on her face. Edward sighed, and started to feel embarrassed, himself. "What is it?" He asked her, not really seeing why she felt the need to be so uncomfortable. "Edward, your mood swings are kinda giving me whiplash." She replied very carefully, as though she were afraid that she would offend him.

She bit her lip, and he felt badly for being the reason that she was uncomfortable. "Yea, I'm sorry about that. Something about you makes me say things that I shouldn't, and I'm sorry... I know that's no excuse, but it's the best explanation I have."

The stewardess offered them both a meal and beverage, which they both accepted..and then Bella looked at Edward and frowned, as if she'd just remembered something. "You're not going to tell me your story, are you?" He began to count the things that he admired about her so that he wouldn't lose his temper. Again.

Once he was on the twenty sixth reason that he admired her, he looked into her eyes, and forced a smile onto his face. In all honesty, it looked more like a grimace or like he had just had a fender bender with a ditzy teenage girl. "You're not going to just let this go, are you?" Bella shook her head forcefully, he began to count in his head again. _Thirty four, thirty five.. _"Then I hope you enjoy disappointment." He said it with a forced air of finality. Things went so much better when she was sleeping, he thought to himself.

After their meal, they both went to pull out their i-pods. Edward smirked at the pink cover on hers, and she rolled her eyes at the universal colour of his. They both called for a silent truce with their eyes, and then proceeded to plug in and tune out. Neither one could help their own curiosity – they each showed the other their musical selection, and then they gawked at each other. They were both listening the same very old, but delicate piece of musical art: Claire De Lune by Debussy.

Edward smirked at her again, and pulled out his ear buds to offer them to Bella. She took her own ear buds out of her ears, and replaced them with his as he made the selection that he had in mind. It was _"The Holy Egoism of Genius"_ from _The Art of Noise. _Thirty seconds into the song, Bella's eyes glazed over, and she looked at her i-pod as if it's very presence made her sad.

"_Debussy didn't believe in God. He didn't believe in the establishment. He didn't believe in bushwa convention. He didn't believe in Beethoven or Wagner – he believed in Debussy..." _

Edward nodded his head, and gave her a knowing look, before he picked up her forgotten ear buds from where they'd landed and put them in his own ears. Bella rubbed her eyes, and selected another song in the shuffled mix. They both regarded the other with curiosity, to see if they approved of each other's musical selections.

Bella unzipped her backpack, and pulled out a steno pad that she usually used to write various reminders on. If talking was just too hard, then they could write. The first song that screamed into her ears was from the _Lostprophets_. It was entitled _"Rooftops"_, and Bella wondered if Edward chose the song because of its lyrics. Was it about something that he knew he wouldn't do? No matter how angry he got, Bella was certain that he'd never stood on the very top of a building and screamed until his throat bled, and his voice failed him.

She was an expert on the subject, because while few would notice or care... Nobody knew about being alone in a crowd better than she did. She was the child of divorced parents, nobody knew what it was like to always go unheard any better than she did...and, oddly enough, she was glad of that. While Edward was the prodigy child of the two loving parents taken from him, she was the last, the least..and never felt as if she'd been enough.

Edward pulled the steno pad and pen out of her tight grip. He began to write, but blocked her eyes from reading it until he was finished. _What would you know about the subject of this song, Bella? _The song in question was _"Because of you"_ from _Kelly Clarkson_. For a split second, Bella considered ripping the ear buds out of Edward's ears, and trading back. The only thing that stopped her was that she knew it wouldn't do any good. He'd heard it, and he wanted answers.

_I don't have to answer that. You never answer my questions. Fair is fair. _Edward looked like he considered swapping back music players as she had, but shook his head and let it go. He watched her with curiosity painted on his face as he listened to the rest of the song.

The truth was that Bella didn't want to tell him, she'd never told anyone else before. She was ashamed, and she blamed herself for her parents divorce. She had begged her mother to leave her father..and when her father had finally left instead, Bella realized only a little too late what an enormous mistake it was. Renee hadn't ever blamed Bella for her enormous mistake, but Bella hadn't ever stopped blaming herself anyway. It was her cross, and she bore it willingly.

Maybe she'd been a child when it all happened – but, even children know how to apologize and forgive. She'd never been angry with her brother for longer than a few hours at the time... Why hadn't she convinced her mother to forgive Charlie? Why hadn't she and her brother understood how much their parents loved each other? Well, a better question was – why hadn't their parents realized it themselves? Why did it take Charlie's moving away to show them all how much he loved Renee?

There was a guy in town with a crush on Renee, and it had taken her dating him for three months before she'd even realized that she was still in love with Charlie. It took a year and half to convince him to come home..and another few years stacked on top of that before Bella could even have a civil conversation with the her father. The time between Charlie leaving, and his coming back home became the "time that we don't speak about"; so nobody ever did.

It all had a very harsh impact on Bella's life. In the back of her mind, she knew that everyone – no matter how much they love you, will one day leave. Whether they came back or not wasn't ever to be certain. So she'd never dated, because she always went into any relationship, being prepared to let go. It all sounded so pathetic when she laid it all out in her mind. She realized that she was pouting, and changed the song on Edward's music player, praying that it would be something happy or soothing.

It wasn't soothing or happy, but it was definitely a distraction, because it was a comedy short from a poetry slam. Bella quickly turned toward Edward, and looked him up and down – as if he were hiding another person inside of himself. She picked up the pen, and scribbled her own question that would likely go unanswered. _If you were going anywhere with anyone – to do anything, where, who, and what? _Edward rolled his eyes. _What, are we in middle school again? _Bella nodded. _Alright, fine. Here, you, exactly the __same thing. _Bella looked at him and smiled, and he just shrugged. _I don't have anything better to do. _Bella gave him a disapproving look, and snatched the pen out of his hand. _Me either. _Edward looked sheepishly pleased, and went back to skipping through her songs.

Sandwiched between Skillet and Hawk Nelson, he selected a song about hearing the prayers of children. Edward stopped skipping through songs and put the song on repeat as he asked the same questions in his head. Who heard the prayers of those children? Who was going to make sure that they were safe, if not soldiers? The best way to avoid becoming a victim was to be a soldier. By doing so, Edward had done his best to save as many innocent people as he could.

Some of Edward's best friends had died, protecting native children from their own country. It was a sacrifice that all soldiers willingly risk every day. If Bella wanted to help children, it would do them no good to learn about her God that didn't exist. It wouldn't do them any good to pray to a God that didn't answer the cries of an entire village. Bella would see one day, he just hoped that he would be there to save her when her prayers weren't answered.

They both fell asleep again, listening to the soundtrack of each other's life. It could truly be said that he contained the music, she contained the words – and yet not a sound was heard... save the thunder of their hearts. In their sleep, without all of the cares of this world, they understood where they belonged. They both ended up in each other's arms, safe and sound.

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_A/N: So, who out there HASN'T been confused when they first meet someone that seems too good to be true? Who have you ever met that didn't have a story to tell that they weren't proud of? Beyond that... Is anybody enjoying this? If so, leave a tiny "Yes" in the review box! :)_


	6. The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Disclaimer: Yea, I'm not Stephenie Meyers...I've never been to Italy, I never hope to fight the Volturi, I hate the sight of snakes..and none of this has to do with my chapter. :D Soooo..without further ado...

**Chapter: 6**

"The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Taxis and Ice Cream"

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{Song: Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley, The Ghost of Tom Joad – Rage Against The Machine, all others should be mentioned by name and artist.}

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As Bella was waking up, she felt eyes watching her. She opened her eyes, and turned her head slightly. She nearly giggled; the older woman on the other side of Edward was smiling at her with an amused look on her face. Clearly, she hadn't expected to awaken to find Edward and Bella in each other's arms.

Bella was jarred awake at the realization that she was actually in the arms of someone that she'd only met a few hours before. Edward was a natural disaster she hadn't been prepared for. As she tried to extricate herself from his arms before he awakened, she realized that doing so would only speed up the process of waking him up. Her left arm was behind him, and she couldn't feel it any more. Edward's chin was resting on her right shoulder, just as her chin was resting on his. While she'd felt comforted and safe in her sleep – after she'd awakened, she was now feeling a bit trapped.

She couldn't see Edward's face, if she didn't know the way he smelled, she realised she could be hugging someone else entirely without even realizing it. She giggled at the thought. The song that was playing in her ears from Edward's music player with such an impressively long life was whispering in her ears, as if the lyrics were a prayer. Though she knew the song so well that it was likely engrained into her very soul, she sighed and felt a tear stream down her cheek. The words sung by the voice of an earth-bound angel surrounded her being with cool breath, and she covered in goose flesh as she shivered.

It wasn't the song of lovers, or of peace. It was a song of hopeless, broken acceptance. It was a song that she'd sung to herself in the darkness of her own fears when she was going through the angst of her teenage years. It was the very song that, if she were capable of painting with brushes, canvas and oils – the painting inspired by this very song would likely resemble Edward's face after he'd finally stopped arguing with her.

His face wasn't entirely peaceful, it was a face that broke her heart, because she knew she would have to leave him once they got to their destination. Her prayers would follow him, and possibly carry him on clouds of comfort one day – but she was forced to make herself accept that she would have to let him go, and never expect to meet him again. Her heart told her that she could follow him, Edward wasn't the lost cause he thought he was. He could find his faith again, he could see the world through very different eyes, if only she could find the perfect words. She sighed, and another tear trailed down her cheek.

Bella Swan wasn't a person accustomed to not having the right words, but Edward caused her to draw a blackened and cold blank every time that they argued. She was shocked at herself, for having gotten so attached to a person she would be walking away from in a few short hours. How had this happened? When had it begun? More tears slid down her cheeks as she prayed to her Creator for the same strength that He'd given the forces of nature so that she'd be able to stand steadfastly when it came time for her to actually let go. She prayed for the hurt little boy who had lost both of his parents to violence and men with evil hearts. She prayed for the man who risked his life for his country, trying to protect the lives of so many that didn't know his name or the names of his brothers. She prayed for the America that owed these brave men a debt with a price so high, its people could never repay it. She prayed for people who identified all too well with the words of the song that played on in her ears...and she finally prayed a selfish prayer.

Her prayer of selfishness begged for another time, and another place. Her prayer pleased that if it were possible for her to ever see him again, that she would one day have the right words to tell Edward when she needed them. She prayed his heart would one day be ready to accept love; and then, with her tears running down Edward's neck, she fell asleep again.

Bella was next awakened by a gentle hand rubbing her shoulder, where a chin had once been digging into it. Bella smiled, and groaned when she realized just how sore she was from sleeping in such a precarious position. After she opened her eyes, Edward's green orbs of amusement danced with her plain brown ones. He mouthed "tell me about it", and rubbed his neck with both of his hands as he smiled sheepishly. He picked up her steno pad that had fallen onto the floor, and wrote with an unsteady hand that showed Bella he hadn't been awake for very much longer than she had.

_They never mentioned that sleeping like that could be so painful when they do it in the movies. _Bella laughed, and her eyes danced with his again. She pulled the pen and note pad from his hands. _So, when were you going to tell me you're a closet chick-flick fan? _Edward made a disgusted face at her, and while she did still have ear buds in her ears – she could swear that she felt a rumbling growl that came from her travelling companion. He didn't bother to even take the note pad back, he reached over and wrote on it while it was still in her hands. _I don't watch chick flicks. You know what I meant. _Bella smiled, and shook her head. _You're right. I forgot about the deleted scenes from Gladiator, Rambo and The Zero Effect. _Edward nodded his head, and smirked. Bella shook her head, and rolled her eyes.

Edward reached for his music player of which she'd been draining the battery in her sleep. _"Red is The Rose" _from_ Skully _was blasting into her ears with an impressive bass beat. Edward smiled, and handed back her player which had obviously been out of battery power for quite some time. He pulled out the ear bud in Bella's ear that was the nearest to him, and plugged it into his own ear. He rested his head back, and seemed to drift into another dimension, leaving only his body behind, until he reached for the note pad. _One of my Mother's favourite songs, with a slight update. _Bella smiled, then they both rested their heads against the head rests, and let the music wash over them like a gentle rain in the middle of July.

The plane just kept slicing through air, it seemed as if they'd never get to stand on solid ground again. Next, came a song that made Edward smirk, and Bella's eyebrows shoot up half-way to her hairline. He, again, took the note pad. _I can't help it, this was the first song that I danced to at my very first high school dance. _Bella rolled her eyes, and felt a stab of jealousy. Maybe Edward wasn't hers, and maybe he never would be – but she still didn't want to hear about his previous girlfriends. Edward smirked at her again, and quickly added: _Oh yea, I had the hottest date there. It was our first date, and she dumped me after I complimented her dress, and asked where she got her shoes. Within the hour, she had the entire school convinced that I was best friend material for any girl. _

Bella couldn't help laughing, even if it was at his expense. _Yea, laugh it up. I had three guys ask me out before I finally just gave up and left. I drove around town for a few hours, until I could go and still keep my reputation intact. _He had a sheepish look on his face when he wrote the next lines that reminded Bella it'd been a while since she'd last made a trip to the loo as she giggled. _Don't get me wrong, that dress was hot – but I was wondering where she'd ever found the ugly shoes that were covered in glitter, as if she thought she was __going to click her heels to get home..._

Bella rolled her eyes at him, and though she was pleased his date had bombed – she found herself feeling sorry for the poor girl who had lost the chance to really get to know Edward. Bella took the pen from his hand, and wrote back: _Her loss. _Edward shrugged his shoulders, and shuffled to the next song, but Bella could see the traces of a smile around his eyes.

Edward groaned inwardly. Why on Earth had he told her about his disastrous date back in High School? _Great, Edward. Tell her how you've never known how to keep the interest of women. Oh yea, that's just what women love to hear. Stupid! _He thought about offering to watch a movie with her, but he didn't want to waste what time they had left watching someone else's messed up relationships play across the small screens in front of them. When had life gotten so confused, and how could he make it stop?

Finally, the song that had embarrassed him was skipped, and the next song up was louder than Edward imagined any of Bella's song choices could ever be. He began to wonder how she'd slept through listening to these songs without having nightmares. The song was harsh, the song was as chapped as the lips who cried out and screamed for mercy, but never were granted it. Bella frowned at him, and he pulled out the note pad again. He wrote down the lyrics for her, he knew them by heart. They had been his strength, and they had been his curse. _The Ghost of Tom Joad _from _Rage Against The Machine _blasted into their ears, and Edward again strengthened his resolve. One day, Bella would need him after her God failed her – and no matter where he was when it happened, he would answer her call.

Edward shrugged, and tried to make it appear that he was trying to stretch – but he was actually trying to forget the taste of salt in his mouth. He'd awakened to feel his neck feeling sticky, and a salty dampness on the shoulder of his shirt where Bella was resting her chin. He was puzzled at first, until he remembered the saying that he'd once heard: _True love is the taste of salt when their beloved cries. _He wondered what she'd been crying about, but didn't want to pry for information that she wasn't offering again.

So, the final hour was upon them. They both seemed to be slowly coming out of the ether, and Bella blushed as she thought about her actions for the last couple of days. They had only just met, and she'd been more open with him than people she'd known for years. She blushed a darker shade when she thought of how she'd awakened earlier, and she began to question her resolve. What if Edward was just a test? A beautiful, broken and gentlemanly (mostly) test? Job had lost pretty much everything that he had to own, except his wife and some very dangerous friends...and in the midst of it all, what had his wife told him? To curse God and die?

Bella shook her head. She was not perfection, she'd failed more times than she could begin to count. If she were Catholic, she would have become a nun; this was something she felt she had to do. Ever since she'd been a child, and dreamed of far away places in her sleep – and the people there who needed her for some reason, she'd known that she had to at least try. She didn't know exactly where her feet would lead her as she took each shaky step, but she was beyond her fear. This was it, she had stepped into her dream – and it was time to let go of anything she couldn't carry with her.

Edward kept silent, as he watched her, and seemed to be having thoughts along the same lines. In truth, he was actually trying to think of a short and precise argument that would convince Bella that she was about to waste her time. There were no words he found his heart willing to say to her. If he crushed her dreams now, then the light in her eyes would likely be extinguished. He refused to take her innocence or naivety away from her. If she ever had to lose those precious parts of herself, he didn't want to ever have himself to blame for it. He realized that he was being selfish, but he also reasoned it was no use anyway – her heart was beyond being turned. For the moment, anyway.

After the plane had landed, they just sat in their seats and stared into each other's eyes. It was one of the simplest, yet most meaningful gifts that Bella could give to anyone. She seldom looked anyone in the eye for very long...oddly enough, it reminded her of a talk that she'd once had with a practising witch.

Once, when Bella was still a teenager, a witch had told her that to allow anyone to look into her eyes would be one of the most intimate things imaginable. When you look into another's eyes, you have a certain power over them. You can see who they really are, and you leave yourself vulnerable. Many people had been bewitched, by simply allowing the wrong people with an evil intent to look into their eyes. Bella shivered at the memory, and smiled at Edward as she blinked and looked away.

Edward chuckled as if he were amused, and they realized that they were the last two people on the plane. Even the elderly woman had escaped without their notice. Edward rose to his feet, and reached out his hand to help Bella up. "Well, we're here." He sighed, and started to take their carry-ons out of the compartment above their seats. Bella smiled, and tried to take her bag out of his hands. He pulled away from her, and smirked at her. "No. I carry them until the carousel, that's the deal. Take it or leave it." Bella rolled her eyes and nodded. He wasn't going to make this easy.

"Fine. But after we step out of the airport, I'm getting my own ride to the place where I'm staying. I don't need a babysitter, Edward." He glared at her, and nearly cracked a smile when he realized that she looked like a three year old throwing a temper tantrum. "You'll do no such thing. I'm taking you to the place where you're staying _and_ delivering you to the door with a note around your neck. _Please take care of this crazy chick, thank you. _It was Bella's turn to glare, and it seemed to Edward it was possible she was likely better at it than he was. Maybe there was some class all women took in high school: _Getting Your Way 101, _or _How to Make Men Scared to Blink.. _He was sure her report card would have made any mother proud.

"Bella. Let's just go, ok? Let me do this? I never had a sister, you know?" Bella didn't look entirely convinced, but she caved. They all eventually caved, when he played his "let me be a gentleman" card. Edward never said he played fair.

Just as they were walking away from their seats, Edward saw a paper stub that looked very much like a ticket of some sort was sitting on the floor in front of Bella's seat. At his first glance, he thought it was just trash, but something told him it was more. He motioned for Bella to walk in front of him, and after she started walking forward, he stooped down to pick up the curious piece of paper. He'd been right; it was a ticket. An eight year old unused ticket to a concert. His eyebrows knit together in confusion. Who was such a pack rat that they would save a ticket so long after it was completely useless? Bella turned around, her fingers reaching to play with the keychain that he'd given her only hours before, and the smile on her face began to drain away as she turned pale, and realized that the zipper on her rucksack was unzipped just enough to let small things drop out. She took the bag off of her shoulder, and frantically started searching for something.

"Ohhh..It's got to be here..I couldn't have lost it, not this far away from home.." Edward looked at her as if she'd grown another nose, what could be so important that she couldn't replace it? Bella was talking to herself, trying to remember every time in the last two days that she'd opened the rucksack, and was only vaguely aware of Edward standing there at all. He had to say her name three times before she even heard him. "Bella? BELLA? BELL-A?!?" She was wringing her hands, and she glared at him. "WHAT? Edward, I've lost it. I know I packed it, and now I've lost it.." Edward shook his head, and reached to still her hands before she started to giver herself permanent nerve damage.

"Bella, what could be so important that you'd start acting like a drug addict that hasn't had a hit in days?" She stopped fidgeting, and he realized there were tears in her eyes. "Edward, have you seen a small piece of paper? It looks like a ticket.." Edward reached into his pocket, and produced the curious scrap he'd found only moments before the madness had started to take over Bella. Her eyes widened, and she sighed with relief as she quickly took it from his hand, and put it safely in her rucksack, where it wouldn't be able to sneak its way out again.

She wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands, and her breathing slowed back to a normal rhythm. "Thank you. I can't tell you how important that piece of paper is to me." Edward shrugged, and decided it was best not to pry even though that was the only thing he wanted to do at the moment. He gestured for her to proceed with their exiting of the plane, and they quickly made their way to the luggage carousel.

Once they were inside the terminal, Edward felt it all coming back. He could smell the vague clean citrus smell of Asian cleaners, and he saw the beautiful scrawled foreign font on all of the signs, alongside the English. The floors were polished to shine because whoever had that job treasured the happiness of simply having their job, and serving others. He wanted to cry, and he wanted to scream at the same time. He took a deep breath, and sighed as Bella turned around and stared into his eyes with her overly enlarged brown orbs. She stopped walking, so she could stand still and take it all in. Edward took a few steps closer, fully aware he was invading her personal space; then he breathed in the scent of all that was Bella with the scents surrounding him. He wanted to remember everything about this moment, because he never wanted to forget the true scent of home.

He knew he was being ridiculous. He'd never believed his parents when they'd said how they'd known they'd met the one when they first laid eyes on each other. Edward wasn't a believer in love at first sight, he'd always thought that it was nonsense people told themselves when they got too tired of being alone and were desperate enough to believe in an invisible force guiding them. He squared his shoulders. _It's all chemical, _he told himself. Genetic, chemicals in him were reacting to chemicals in Bella – the same way that the scent of the citrus cleaners reminded him of home, he reasoned. It was not metaphysics, it was simple chemical reactions. Like that stupid vinegar volcano that Jasper had made as a kid. Edward growled at the reminder of his half brother, this was not the time or the place to crash and burn. That was for later..when Bella wasn't around to witness his weakness.

All he wanted Bella to know was he was here on a carefree trip of visiting a place that was tastefully exotic. He was not here to look up people he once knew, he was not here to find his old home, and he most certainly had no intentions of returning to any place he would find familiar. He put the handles of the carry ons in Bella's hands before he went to retrieve their luggage from the belt. Then, they each had to walk through immigrations, with their feet standing on yellow foot prints that made Edward smile with nostalgia, in spite of himself. He'd always loved those stupid foot prints, because as a child, he imagined how much fun it would have been to dip his shoes in paint and leave foot prints behind without getting in trouble. He smirked, when he realized his shoes now covered the entire foot prints – his feet had grown considerably during his late teenage years. He'd returned to this country as a grown man – yet, all he wanted to do was grab Bella's hand, go outside, and catch the first ride to anywhere they wanted to stop.

He felt as though he'd been kicked in the stomach, and his breathing picked up as he scratched an imaginary itch at the base of the back of his neck. It was now down to seconds, not hours or even minutes until he had to say goodbye to Bella, possibly forever. After he dropped her off at the place where she would be staying, she would no longer need him. They would no longer have anything in common, other than their weakness for southern breakfast food, precious little music, and a faith he no longer had.

He was simply letting go of something that was never his to start with, he told himself. In fact, he wasn't even letting go, because he wasn't one for holding on. He was the strong soldier who picked up himself by his own boot straps, and made the enemy cry and beg for mercy. He wasn't a heartless man, but war was war – and he'd made a commitment to himself that he would serve the oppressed. The final words of the film, and of the song about Tom Joad echoed in his mind. Edward was reminded of his objective, and he began to hum to the beat that he reasoned only Tom Joad, Zack De La Rocha and he could understand.. _"Look in their eyes, Ma – you'll see me!" _

Once they were outside, Edward considered just taking a songtaew, but thought better of it. He bowed to a taxi driver, and their bags were loaded into the back as the driver smiled and sang songs to himself. Edward momentarily found himself jealous of the man in his momentary employ. He wished all he had to worry about was a smudge of dust on his car, traffic and not running over motorbikes at traffic lights.

Edward reached to open the door for Bella, but the driver beat them both to it. "Sir," He bowed again. Edward had forgotten just how polite and generous these natives were. Edward nodded and smiled at the driver, and handed him the slip of paper with the address on it for the place where Bella needed to be delivered. The driver's eyes closed, and he seemed to be thinking, until a light bulb must have come on in his mind. His eyes opened, and he smiled, bowed, and closed the door behind Edward and Bella.

Once the car pulled up in front of a rather nondescript building to wait on a traffic light, Edward's arm tightened around Bella. He'd meant to just pull her in for a hug, but his arm was AWOL. The entire way from the airport, things had been awkward, they both tried to keep from touching each other, except for his arm around her shoulders, in front of the driver who kept taking every chance he had to look back at them, smiling. This was it, it was as if their bubble had burst the moment they'd walked off of the plane. Bella had become distant, as if she were lost in thought; and Edward wanted to pull his hair out.

"Bella?" His walking dream turned her head, and her eyes met his. Hers seemed to be fighting to hold back tears that were threatening to cost her dignity, and would likely make him lose more. He'd seen enough of her tears to last him a lifetime, and didn't want this to be the way they left it when they went their own ways. Bella took a deep breath, and folded her hands in her lap. "Edward, I know that we haven't known each other for very long, and I know just about everything about me makes you want to rip your hair out with frustration, but just know I'm on your side, alright?"

Edward pulled his hands out of his hair without even really noticing what he was doing, and held the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger with his eyes shut. He'd left entire units of brothers and it hadn't been this hard. He'd left orphanages where children had come out and wrapped themselves around his legs, and he hadn't shed a tear. Why was this so hard?

"Bella, things are likely about to change for both of us in ways we can't even imagine." He pulled his hand away from his face, and looked into her eyes. Bella nodded, and frowned a little. He knew it wasn't proper, but he didn't care; Edward reached and grabbed her hands into the grasp of both of his. He wasn't good with "hello's", he wasn't good with "goodbyes", in fact, Edward wasn't really good with the in-between part; when it came to the people he cared about...and Bella had wormed her way into taking the first place in line.

He nodded his head toward her, and the car began to slow down as it went over speed bumps. Edward knew this had to be wrapped up quickly. What was he, a girl? Why couldn't he just spit out what he wanted to say? Why did she make the words get all jumbled up in his head like she did? "Bella. Thank you. You have no idea what it's meant to me, just having your presence. I'm going to miss my ipod buddy." Bella blushed, and ducked as some of her stray hairs brushed across her facial features. Edward wanted to brush them away, but decided he'd made this hard enough as it was. He somehow didn't feel as if he'd said enough – both feet weren't entirely down his throat yet, so he chanced to say a little more of what was on his mind.

"Bella, look, I didn't mean to give you such a Philistine end to that last statement. What I'm trying to say is.." His voice trailed off. What exactly was he trying to say? _I know I'm out of my mind, but I'm in love with you? I want to steal you away so that we can argue until one of us finally caves? I want to have children with you – Wait, WHAT?!? _"Thank you, and if it's of any value to you at all, I'm not only on your side – I'll fight for your side, alright? No matter where you are, no matter what has happened – I'm there."

_There, _Edward thought to himself, that hadn't hurt a bit. Bella chewed on her bottom lip, and he felt a little sorry for her. He'd just promised to become an army of one, just to save her from any monsters that may jump out of the closet. She obviously didn't know what to say, and he didn't know what to say beyond what he'd already said – because, really, where does one go from _I'd die, for you..? _He began to wonder exactly how high his blood pressure was at the moment, he felt his left eye beginning to twitch, which wasn't a good sign.

_Why doesn't she say something? Oh, duh. She's going to wait until the car stops, and run away. Oh, crap. She is, isn't she? _Bella blinked, and a tear escaped from the corner of her left eye; then, she threw herself into his arms and hugged him as if he were the only thing in the middle of an ocean that was keeping her from drowning.

He felt like he'd won the lottery, until he realized the ticket was about to be stolen away from him. "Uh, Bella? We're here.." Bella pulled away from him, and blushed the deepest red he'd seen her wear yet. Edward saw the face of a fellow American through the front window of the building, and he really didn't want to get Bella into any trouble. He smiled as carefree of a smile that he could force onto his face, and exited the car before the driver could open the door for them. Then he turned back, to offer his hand to Bella as she exited the nondescript yellow car.

Before Bella's foot even touched down on the pavement, there were three American young men running outside the door to see the newcomer. Bella heard a growling noise, and giggled when she realized that it wasn't Edward's stomach. The first one to reach for her bags from the driver smiled as though he'd never met a girl before. "Hi! I'm David, you must be Bella Swan? We were actually just about to head out to the airport to bring you back...but I see that's not needed – do you like ice cream?"

Edward reached down, and whispered in her ear: _"We missed picking you up at the airport, so would you like to pretend you're a baby that we can bribe with ice cream?" _Bella smirked at Edward, and rolled her eyes. "Be nice, you get to leave, I'm staying." Then, she turned to the young man named David and his buddies, who were currently arguing over who had to carry her very bright and girly suitcase. "Yes! I love ice cream, and don't worry about not meeting me at the airport, this is Edward, and he took very good care of me."

Edward nodded toward the young men, even though Bella was sure that she heard another growling noise. "Nice to meet all of you guys. I'm not holding today against you, just don't let it happen again, capiche?" The young men nodded their heads, and turned to take Bella's bags inside.

Bella giggled, and snorted. "Do you think you scared them enough? They were only being nice about the ice cream, you know?" Edward shrugged, and smiled at the unlady-like noise that she'd made. "So...This is it. Take care of yourself, Swan. Ok?" Bella nodded, and Edward turned to get back into the taxi. "Edward?" His eyes met hers, after he was seated inside the car again. She leaned down, so that nobody else could hear what she was saying. _"Edward, no matter where you are, or if we ever see each other again, you're never alone, alright?" _He nodded, and shut the door. They waved at each other, as friends do. She waited on the pavement, and waved until he was out of sight...then, she turned and walked inside the front doors of the building to embrace the future that she'd chosen.

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_{A/N: I wanted this chapter to leave us all feeling a little hope for them, and that's why it stopped where it did, alright? No throwing vegetables at me, unless you plan to throw a few steaks that I can cook with them...One question, though – has anyone out there ever read or seen the Nun Story film with Audrey Hepburn in it? The Grapes of Wrath? If not, you should. The're brilliant. Also, one last thing here – THANK YOU to the sweet and adorable Amy, who left me two awesome reviews – and to my bestest friend Roxi who has been moonlighting as my Beta!}_


	7. Alcohol, Orphans and Sisters

Disclaimer: I'm not a Mormon, a Catholic nun or Stephenie Meyers. I've only been confused with two of those..sadly. I just love to write, and have an over-active imagination.

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Chapter: 7

"Alcohol, Orphans and Sisters"

{_Songs: "Prayer of the Children" – Insideout A Capella, _

_"Superstar" - Lenny Kravitz vs. Underdog Project vs. No Doubt vs. Tag Team vs. Benni Benassi [Loo & Placido]__, _

_"Never Alone" – Barlow Girl}_

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After Edward had delivered Bella to her new home, he started to feel more empty than he had felt in his life. At first, the driver seemed confused as to why Edward had left Bella behind. He stared at Edward with disbelief written across his face. After Edward stopped to buy a bottle of liquor on his way to a hotel, the driver didn't seem to wonder any more. He just nodded at Edward, and shook his head sadly. Edward wanted to tell him to shut up, but he hadn't said a single word. What was it about these people who seemed to think that you were their freaking family or something?

He didn't need these people to stare at him as if he'd screwed up. He knew he had, but he wasn't sure when or how. He didn't bother to invite his new liquid friend to his falling-apart party until he had checked into a room, after he's washed his face. He didn't bother with soap, he just splashed cold water on his face and stared in the mirror at the reflection of a man who had felt mostly fulfilled the last time he'd stared back at himself about a day ago. He turned away, and tipped the bottle as he chugged down as much as he could before he had to breathe. He didn't intend to get drunk, because that would be putting it lightly. He intended to get numb. He wanted to be so numb, he wouldn't even feel if somebody chopped off his arm...and he had a long way to go.

He plugged his ipod into the wall, and started flipping through songs. If he was going to get wasted, he needed something crashing into his ear drums until they bled. He knew that he shouldn't be sleeping..he needed to stay awake for at least the first day so that he could acclimate to the local time zone that he found himself in..It _was_ starting to get dark outside his window before he knew it. He decided he was feeling very much trapped in his room just as he realized he'd ran out of tequila. He sighed, and decided that tequila really wasn't his drink anyway. He wanted to go out and try every kind of alcohol he could get his hands on..he'd never managed to actually get himself drunk before, and it was the rumoured numbness that he was craving at the moment.

Every time he closed his eyes, he could see Bella's smile, or her tears..and he was sure he smelled her scent before he realized he actually _had_ – his clothes reeked of her. His brows furrowed, and he angrily ripped them off before he started throwing on something that didn't smell like flowers, and strawberries..and..whatever else she smelled like. If he wasn't in such a frame of mind, he would have tried to burn those Bella-scented clothes..but he didn't have any matches or a lighter. Served him right, he figured. He was a trained soldier, and he knew better than to not have matches or a lighter on him.

So, he threw on some clothes, stalked out of the building, and onto the street. Once he was actually walking down the pavement, he realized that he didn't have a clue where he was going. So, he just wandered around after he'd bought another bottle – this time vodka. He wasn't sure that he was cut out to be an alcoholic, but he was willing to give it his best shot.

When he found himself in front of a club that played loud music and had pretty women dancing inside, Edward decided maybe it was time to find another girl that could make him forget Bella. He realized he must have managed to get at least half-way decent drunken, because his logic was faulty, and he should have known better...but he ignored all reason that tried to surface. He shook his head when his vodka was gone before he cursed, and asked the bartender to throw the bottle away for him. This time, he asked for whatever was local. He was so far gone that flavour and effect didn't really matter

The bartender nodded, and cautiously handed Edward a beer. Edward stared back at him, as if he were crazy. "No. Dude – I need the hardest, best stuff you've got. Please, man." The native just shook his head, and then refused the money Edward had laid on the counter. Even in his stupor, Edward remembered to pay the money with his right hand so as to not offend the native, and it annoyed him greatly when the bartender refused it. The man sensed Edward's annoyance, but bowed politely. "No, sir. You tell Ying what happened, Ok?"

Edward was suddenly beyond his anger, and he was now beginning to realize nothing was going to numb the pain..that, and he was beginning to feel very sick. He was glad, he hoped he'd drank enough to get poisoning. With any luck, he'd even die. The room started to spin, and Edward laid his head on the counter. "She's gone. I've lost her, and I don't know why it bothers me, because I never had her, you know?" The bartender nodded his head, and called one of his many friends to take over his shift for the time being.

"What is her name?" He asked Edward, with a very kind voice that should have belonged to a priest, not a bartender. Edward sighed, and quickly realized that was an action he shouldn't do again any time soon. "Bella...her name's Bella. Isn't her name beautiful, Ying? That is your name, right?" The kind native nodded his head, and folded his elbow so that he could use his right hand as a prop for his chin. "You love this Bella?" Edward nodded his head very slowly, and realized he should try to avoid doing that action as well. "Yes. I never wanted it to happen – I thought I could get through this life without ever having it happen to me. I never wanted it to happen to me. Love makes a man weak, you know what I mean, Ying?" The bartender with the kind face nodded his head, and came around the counter to help Edward off of the stool. "Sir, there is nothing you can do. If you love her, you tell her. If you lose her, you let her go."

Ying helped Edward off of the stool, and then asked with a very low voice "Where you stay? You need to get back before you fall asleep or get sick." He hailed Edward a cab, and directed the driver to the place that Edward had named. Edward felt useless. He was in a foreign country, without a single person to care what happened to him...and he was dizzy. He was loaded very carefully into a taxi. Once he arrived at the hotel, he paid the driver too much, and the driver tried to give some back, but Edward refused to take it back. The driver shrugged, and took the keys out of his car, then helped Edward to his room. He asked the American if he would be alright, Edward said he would and thanked the taxi driver before the door was shut. Edward slumped to the floor, and had to crawl to the toilet where he decided that if he lived through his burning, blurry mistake, he wouldn't make it again.

That night, Edward had nightmare after nightmare. He kept hearing words from the song he'd listened to on Bella's music player. The difference was that instead of the song making him feel better about himself as a protector, he kept seeing blood on his hands.

He was a soldier, military action was part of his job! He couldn't help the many possible innocent casualties of war. Those people shouldn't have associated themselves with terrorists! The enemy was the enemy, and there was no questioning this fact. Yet, nightmare after nightmare, he kept looking down and seeing blood on his hands. _Can you hear the prayer of the children? _Edward argued with his sub-consciousness. This life is all there is, we just have to make the best of it and **survive as best we can**. The children who overcame it all, they knew the truth in this fact. _Can you hear the voice of the children, softly pleading for silence in a shattered world? Angry guns preach a gospel full of hate – blood of the innocent on their hands... _In his nightmare_,_Edward shook his bloody fists at the sky as children cried out and ran from blasts that were going off all around him.

Edward was an American soldier, he refused to believe his country picked fights with others..America takes the defensive, not the offensive. He began to shake himself harshly, until he forced himself to awaken. He lost count of how many times between the nightmares he'd awakened to wretch up the contents of his stomach. Once he finally awakened from the worst of the grisly nightmares to the otherwise empty dark room, his chest was heaving from his heavy breathing. He was exhausted, and his eyes darkened to a harsh, hardened onyx in the moment he blamed his nightmares on Bella. He decided he was well rid of her..then, he shook his head sadly, and went back to a dreamless slumber, ignoring the tears of a frightened young boy who could never go home again that were drying on his cheeks.

The next morning, he didn't feel numb, or even rested at all. In fact, he felt even worse. He had a headache that felt as if his head was going to explode, and he actually hoped that it would so the pain would go away. The hangover only made the day before more real, and he couldn't escape it. He was trapped in his room, trying to block out any light that was trying to come through the window.

After he'd drank far more water than he ever should have from the likely unfiltered faucet, he crawled into his unmade bed, just deciding to sleep until it all went away, and hope for restful sleep this time. The blissful part of this plan was he'd always been able to sleep whenever and wherever he wanted to. After his eyes closed, he was once again dead to the world around him, and he had the deepest dreamless sleep he'd ever experienced.

The next time Edward finally dragged his eyes open again, he found his headache was mostly gone, and he was starving. He pulled out his cell phone, and saw he'd slept through an entire day and halfway into another night. He quickly slapped himself, and turned the phone off, as he cursed– the roaming charges were going to eat him alive on his next statement. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he decided with conviction that jet lag never should be mixed with alcohol – not that Edward _ever_ planned on drinking such quantities in such a short time again. He got up from his bed, and went to take a shower. After he had washed the nauseating smell of alcohol from his pores, he decided that he needed to go in search of food.

The search didn't take him too far, there were street vendors selling any kind of food one could want about three steps apart along the pavement. Edward stopped and purchased something that smelled very good and ate the entire thing before he was five steps away. The vendor laughed as he saw Edward get in line again to buy more. Once Edward was in front of the line again, the vendor laughed and smiled. "You hungry!" Edward sheepishly grinned, and nodded..this time, purchasing two orders instead of one, with a fruit juice. He bowed and thanked the vendor, then went to find a place to sit down and eat his food.

He found a place under a tree that stood very tall and firm in the middle of an area resembling a courtyard...until Edward realized he was next to an ancient city wall, and he _was _dining in the courtyard of an ancient city. He smiled to himself, and ate his food as he watched all of the people walking, riding, cycling and speeding by. Everything was going well for him, until he caught a glimpse of a young woman in a blue dress riding by on a motorbike. She was holding very tightly onto the person that was manoeuvring the bike through traffic, and her face was covered with the helmet on her head, but the skip of his heart told him who it was.

The motorbike stopped at a traffic light, and Edward saw the young woman turn her head around, as if searching for something, until the light changed colours, and she was gone again. He didn't even taste the rest of his food. Edward just scarfed his previously delicious meal down as the scene he'd just witnessed played over and over again in his head, along with the many stored away moments he'd shared with Bella.

This was ridiculous. He had come on this trip to sort some things out, and rejuvenate so he could move on with his life. He had not come here to meet Bella..yet, here he was, feeling every bit a stalker. So, true to his new-found stalker-ish tendencies, he walked away from the spot where he'd previously enjoyed his meal for the direction he'd seen the motorbike take off into..trying to find any business enticing enough for a young American woman to leave her bed when she should have been resting from jet lag.

He had walked several blocks before he decided it wasn't even likely he'd seen Bella. It was probably some other woman who had a dress made out of the same blue fabric. Yes, he was sure that was it. Edward rolled his eyes at his own over-eagerness to see Bella again. What would he say if he saw her again, anyway? Edward shook his head, and started walking back toward the same direction he'd come from. It was, getting dark again, and Edward decided that while he wasn't prepared to get intoxicated again so soon, he could definitely use a drink.

So, his walk ended when he found himself in front of a bar that looked as good as any, and he walked inside. He'd realized somewhere along the way he had taken a wrong turn somewhere, but since he'd found the bar he'd been subconsciously seeking out, who was he to complain? Edward smirked and moved his shoulders to the beat of _Lenny Kravitz_ singing _"Are You Gonna Go My Way?" _as he walked into the slightly smoky bar. Now, _this_ was what he'd come to Asia for. He knew his parents would be shaking their heads out of shame; but tonight, he told himself he didn't care. He wanted to be left alone to make his own choices, and no God or anyone else was going to tell him otherwise.

He walked right up to the bar and ordered a beer. The fact that the small amount of people in the room who really even knew half of what the words of the song were talking about in the song amused Edward. Words didn't matter, the beat and the blistering guitars were part of a universal language known as "music". He looked around, and took notice that this particular establishment also offered river boat rides with dinner. Edward seated himself at the bar, ordered a drink, as he mulled over the options for his evening meal.

Sure he could likely have a meal sitting at the bar, or he could be seated at a table...but he was on vacation. While you're on vacation, you don't eat alone in a bar. He decided it was pathetic to even consider doing so. There had been two women outside as he'd passed by on his way into the bar, and Edward began to wonder if they were waiting on someone.. Until he rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. Of course they were waiting on someone – they were what his mother had called "women of the night, the poor things". Edward decided his night was about to get a lot better, before he asked the bartender to keep an eye on his drink.

He decided to be seated at a table, after he'd found company for dinner. This was the answer to his problems, the way to get Bella off of his mind, he decided. Edward quickly stepped out onto the pavement. He had full intentions of asking the two women if they would like to join him for dinner, but before he could, the beautiful young native woman with a slightly more mature and subdued friend by her side asked if she could join him for dinner with only her eyes. He began to wonder if they should get their food to go, but his stomach growled and won the argument. He pushed away the part of his conscience that spoke in his mother's voice, and invited them to join him with hand motions.

He was determined to get the girl he'd likely seen hours before cleaned from his mind, no matter the cost. He was bowing to the idol of himself, and he didn't really care. The younger of the two women nodded her head shyly. He found her actions endearing, after she'd already made eye contact that left him feeling giddy. Edward had them all seated at a table for the river boat cruise. It was simple mathematics. Out of the two of them, one of them was bound to be a good investment, he decided.

He didn't need a woman like Bella – or anyone else he didn't want in his life. He'd never even had a girlfriend – he'd always been so hardened and bitter toward the world.. girls in high school had flirted and thrown themselves at him from time to time, but once Jessica had spread the rumour that brought his manliness into question, all of that came to an end...and Edward hadn't really cared enough to prove the story to be false.

If Edward had a girlfriend, he may fall in love with her – and he didn't need all of the guilt of failing someone else in his life. It was because of people who lived by rigid rules like the ones Bella chose to follow that had caused him to join the military in the first place. Edward sighed, and bought each of the women seated at his table the drink of their choice. He didn't want to speak their language, and the younger of the two spoke very limited English, but this fact didn't bother him. He knew what these women were here for, and Edward decided that he just may take them up on their offer before the night was over.

He pushed away the guilt he felt at the thought of taking advantage of them, is this not why they sought men such as himself out? The oldest profession in the world? Edward shook his head, and threw back the remaining contents of his bottle, and ordered something a little stronger. The older of the two women didn't interact much, unless making eye contact every now and then counted. Edward wondered just how much she knew about her craft. Surely, by her age, she knew that she needed to be at least a little friendly. She just seemed to ignore his presence completely, until the younger girl would laugh at something he said, or when he scooted his chair closer to her. The younger girl said that her name was Alice, and Edward rolled his eyes at the American name she offered, when she was clearly Asian. It isn't uncommon for a native girl to have an English name that she's chosen, but he knew it wasn't likely to be her given name. Her English wasn't perfect, but Edward was impressed with how well she seemed to understand his.

He had drank more than he realized by the time their boat was being pulled in at the dock; and his mouth suddenly felt dry when it also dawned on him that if he wanted the women to join him for more than dinner, he'd have to ask them and make his intentions clear.

He inwardly cringed. _Make your intentions clear, what is this, Victorian America? Seriously, Edward. _He smiled, and offered his hand to help the two women from the boat, though only Alice accepted. Alice was a short and elegant little thing. There was something about her eyes that seemed familiar, but she said she was from the city they were in. He hadn't ever really spent enough time there to get to know anyone before, so he shrugged it off as some random thing to ponder later. It wasn't long before he and Alice were dancing together as they made their exit through the bar they'd have to walk through to make their way toward the street. The older woman was following along with him like a gorgeous shadow as they stood on the pavement outside the bar and waited to see a taxi slow down.

"Sooo..Uh, would you like to see where I'm staying?" He was scratching an imagined itch at the back of his neck again, and there were warning lights going off in his head. He'd never done this before, as ridiculous as that would likely seem to any other men his age. He hadn't really been on a date since Jessica because there had always been something more important to do. People to save, children to get out of harm's way, and wars to fight. Edward was a very focused individual, though at the moment, he was sure that he should have made time to focus on the opposite sex a little more in his lifetime.

Alice seemed a little nervous, and licked her lips as she nodded; the other woman just followed behind the two of them. Edward wondered if this was standard procedure, but didn't want to show his ignorance by asking Alice about it. Edward hailed a taxi, and all three of them sat themselves in the back seat – the older woman between he and Alice, though Alice didn't seem to pay much attention to the other woman. She kept sneaking glances at Edward, and then closing her eyes. He wondered if she was having second thoughts. Could she tell that he didn't have a clue as to what he was doing?

Edward realized as the two of them sat with him, joining in the awkward silence, that he didn't even know their real names. He only had a nick name for one of them, Alice. They hadn't told introduced themselves. He wasn't sure how he felt about this fact, so he sat in the taxi with his eyes jumping from one to the other, having decided to name them for his own benefit.

In his haze of random thoughts, he admired the older, curvier one. She had very deep, expressive eyes that looked as if they'd seen more than his had. He named her "Elizabeth" in his mind, because the look on her face told him that she wondered if he even knew what he was doing. It reminded him of his mother when he gave her an ill-written piano piece he'd written as a child. It was an expression of pitying kindness.

That was when he decided against having any further relations with anyone who reminded him of his mother. No amount of alcohol could convince him that it was alright to think about his mother when he was doing something as physical as he had previously planned to do.

The other one, Alice, he looked at sceptically. She had tried to act seductive with her eyes and movements at times, but her eyes couldn't truly hide her naivety. She should have been old enough to know better than to be going off with strangers. The more she had tried to act seductively, the more he sobered enough to realize what he was doing. She reminded him of Bella, and suddenly – Edward wasn't feeling so proud of himself for his plans to somehow use these women to shake free of the chains his past had used to hold him back.

He asked the taxi driver to pull over, and he dug out the address card of the place where Bella was staying. She had given it to him at the airport to show the driver where she needed to be dropped off, and Edward had pocketed it so that he would know how to find her again.

He looked at the women remorsefully, and asked the taxi driver if he knew how to reach the address. The driver nodded, seeming to know the general area. Edward took a deep breath, and tried to think of words to explain to the two women why he was about to do what he was planning.

He looked out at the semi-dark sky overhead, and did something that he'd refused to do since the day his first buddy he'd made in the military had died on the battlefield: he prayed if there was a God, that this God would take notice of "Alice" and save her from people like Edward. As the taxi came to a traffic light, he turned his head back toward the two women and he realized that the older one of the two had silently exited the car. She had managed to silently step out onto the pavement, and she was leaning down, her eyes meeting his with a very stern look. Then, she gave him a harsh look and left.

Edward was left with the younger one, Alice, and she was looking more uncomfortable by the second. She smiled nervously, and her eyes seemed to be searching his face to ascertain the reason for his sudden change of mood she could obviously sense just as well as the other woman had..then, she looked like she was going to start crying. Edward knew that he had to act fast before he started yelling at her, or worse, if he started to cry himself.

"It's not that you're not beautiful. You are. You're too beautiful. How old are you, anyway? Sixteen? Seventeen? You deserve to have someone love you, not some random guy who doesn't intend to stick around. You deserve better than to be used this way, do you understand?" He wanted to shake some sense into her, but knew if anyone deserved to be shaken up, it was himself. He'd put her in this predicament.

The young girl had tears in her eyes. "I understand. I hear before. Too young. Need to meet nice boy and marry – yes?" Edward nodded slowly, she continued. "Nice boys no like girls like me.." She motioned her hands in the universal "this is all there is" sign. "My life. All I have. I came to city to meet someone, but he never come." Edward's mouth opened in shock. This young girl wasn't running from her home as he had at her age, she was trying to simply live out the life she'd been dealt by surviving the only way she knew how...and she'd been deserted by some idiot who hadn't come for her.

"Listen, if I take you to someone, a very nice girl who can help you – would you trust her?" He asked the young girl, and mentally tried to start chalking up a list of reasons to give Bella for what he was about to do. He knew that he was about to ask far more of Bella than she could likely handle by herself, but he didn't know of anyone else – and he couldn't just put Alice back on the street. This lifestyle wasn't her fault, she was a victim of circumstance; and Edward felt oddly responsible for her welfare.

The young girl nodded her head, confused but hopeful. The way that she trusted him made his heart break. His mind was made up. He had the driver turn around, and head toward Bella. Maybe his parents were dead and gone – but it seemed the things they had taught their son didn't have an expiration date.

Once the taxi had passed over more speed bumps than Edward cared to count, he realized the building in front of him where Bella was supposed to be staying was completely dark. He heaved a sigh, and shook his head. Why could nothing in his life ever be easy or simplified? He didn't have a phone number, so he did the only thing that he knew would catch her attention...and likely, the attention of everyone else on the street, or neighbourhood. He screamed for Bella at the top of his lungs. The room where she was staying was at least two or three flights up from the ground, and after the first time that he yelled, he heard scrambling from the buildings all around him. Most people would have been sleeping with their windows open on an evening with such a high temperature. He called out for Bella again, and saw a figure with brown hair groggily look over a balcony overhead. "Edward? What are you doing? It's late and you're going to get us all in trouble!" She stifled a yawn, and then seemed to notice that Edward wasn't alone. Bella brushed the hair out her eyes, and gave Edward a hard stare. "Edward, I'll be down in a minute – and this had better be important."

Edward felt ridiculous, as if he would explode and go into every direction from the excitement of just seeing Bella again. A few minutes later, a very tired looking Bella and a very annoyed looking David walked to the front door. David put a key in the lock, and turned it before he cracked open the one barrier between them. David was shooting flaming daggers at Edward with his eyes, and Edward ignored him.

This was important, because Edward wasn't one for asking favours of anyone. He guided Alice toward the door, and asked David with his eyes if he could enter through the door. David looked at Bella, as if asking permission while still demanding that she choose to answer in the negative. Edward rolled his eyes, it seemed Bella did somehow cause most people around her to care deeply for her welfare. Bella eyed Alice curiously, and nodded her head while she smiled politely at Alice.

Alice smiled a very shy and small smile at Bella, before she rushed forward and put her arms around and hid her face in the shoulder of a very bewildered Bella. At first, Bella stood very still, as if she were shocked, then she returned the embrace, and stared into Edward's eyes with a look of absolute confusion. Edward began to feel the awkwardness and he wished very much that he had a gun in his hands to steady his nerves; though he realized his wish would likely scare everyone else half to death. He tried to clear the proverbial concrete from his mouth, holding his tongue immobile. He began to have second thoughts about his plan, even though he knew it was too late for him to escape.

Edward rubbed the invisible itch at the back of his neck with his left hand as he held the bridge of his nose between his right thumb and forefinger. He tried to fill his lungs to capacity, he wondered if he could kill himself by breathing too deeply, until he decided against trying out his new escape plan. Just before he opened his mouth to speak, Bella patted Alice on the shoulder, and motioned for Edward to follow her back outside. David looked at Bella as if he wanted to demand she stay inside, but he seemed to know better than doing so. Edward wondered if she'd already staked her claim as the independent woman she thought she was, and even though he knew he'd likely pay for it later, he smirked at David.

Once they were outside, Bella had her arm around Alice the same way Edward had put his arm around Bella in the taxi the day of her arrival. The gesture made him smile, until he saw the confusion still evident on Bella's face flicker a spark of irritation in her eyes. "Edward, who is she? Why are you bringing her to me in the middle of the night, and why do you smell like you've been on a three day drinking binge?" Edward sighed, he thought the earlier shower had removed all evidence, and he knew the drinks he'd had before and during his supper weren't enough to make him smell _that _bad. Besides, what did Bella know about the smell of alcohol, anyway?

"Bella, her name is Alice. I met her earlier tonight, and she has nowhere else to go. Obviously, she can't stay with me, and I don't know anyone else here. I _have_ been drinking _some_," Bella rolled her eyes, and looked very disappointed with him. " – but I swear I'm not drunk _now_", he quickly added.

Bella's arm tightened around Alice, and her eyes softened just before she asked the question she didn't want to, but knew she had to ask. "Edward, am I to understand that you met Alice somewhere while you were drinking tonight, and she now has no safe place to go? Was she on a street corner before you met her?" Bella's eyes held no judgement, and Edward reasoned – she _did _need to know the truth about Alice, if she could even begin to help her.

He raised his eyebrows at Bella. What exactly did she know about street corners, and the smell of alcohol? He was dying to ask, yet knew he was much safer not doing so. This was about Alice, not an excuse to hone his stalker skills or learn more about Bella. Even though she was all rumpled from sleep, and now wearing a pink dress she'd likely threw on quickly – because pink was the colour for Tuesdays if she'd immersed herself in the culture. He decided the pink was his new favourite dress on her. She looked adorable and he wanted to kiss her...or beat the teeth out of David's head for thinking _he_ had a shot with her. He inwardly shrugged, it _was_ a tight competition.

_Alice! This is about Alice, _Edward told himself, and it was mostly true. He shook himself out of it, and brought the welfare of Alice back to the place of current priority. He couldn't begin to explain how he felt just as protective of Alice as he did of Bella because he didn't understand it himself. He didn't see Alice the same way as he saw Bella, but for someone who had spent the last ten years not worrying about anyone other than himself – it was a very strange business.

Bella turned Alice so that they could look each other in the eyes, and she held both of Alice's hands in her own. "Alice, my name is Bella. Do you understand English?" Alice nodded her head, and she looked to Edward as if she were afraid she was about to be turned out. Edward nodded encouragingly, and mouthed the words "trust her." Alice nodded, and turned back to Bella. "My English not perfect, but I understand. It is nice to meet you, Bella."

Bella smiled at Alice, and her eyes looked a lot less worried. "Good! Ok, Alice, will there be anyone looking for you tonight – anyone that will be angry if they can't find you?" Alice looked as though she were sad for a moment, until she seemed to realize exactly what Bella was asking her. She shook her head vehemently, and said a very resolute "Nobody will be looking for me tonight." Bella let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, and she put her arm back around Alice as she turned them both to head back inside the building.

Edward felt relieved he didn't have to worry about Alice any more, but a little flame of jealousy fired up in his heart before he could extinguish it. "Bella?" The naive American girl he'd met in an airport on the other side of the world had stepped aside, and she was now in full Mother Teresa mode. "Edward, thank you for bring Alice to us. She'll be safe and taken care of here. Goodnight, and stay away from the alcohol, ok?" Edward nodded, and watched the women go back inside the building just before David closed the door and locked it. The twerp smiled largely at Edward and waved. One day, Edward swore he was going to give David a reason to cry.

Once the two women were inside, and David had returned to the part of the building where the guys slept, Bella led Alice to the library where they wouldn't be disturbing anyone with their voices. Alice sat down in the seat that was offered to her, and Bella sat opposite of her, and smiled kindly. "Alice, I don't know if Edward told you what this place is, but this is where young people train to be missionaries. We tell others about Jesus and His love for everybody." Alice looked a little surprised, then she shook her head with a sad smile. "I knew Jesus, but I thought He'd gone away. I came to city to meet someone, but he never come.." Bella scooted closer to the beautiful native girl, and nodded for her to continue. "Tonight, I meet Edward, and he bring me to you. This tells me that, Jesus not gone away. I leave Him." Bella had tears in her eyes, and Alice began to sob as Bella put her arms around her.

"Alice, let's go get some sleep, ok? You can wear some of my bedclothes." Alice nodded, and while Bella only had a twin sized bed to herself, Alice refused to sleep on one of the other beds not being occupied. Alice looked so scared to sleep alone it nearly broke Bella's heart, so they both entered into slumber with their hands tightly clasped. Bella smiled a weary smile, and mused; maybe she would never get to be an actual birth mother, but she would most definitely take care of Alice, come what may.

The next morning came swiftly, and Bella thought Alice was going to jump out of her skin when she heard the awakening bell ring through the building. "It's ok, Alice – that was only to make sure we're all awake and ready for breakfast." Bella smiled at the native girl as the tension in her seemed to ease away. "Oh," she said. The girl from the bunk next to Bella's, Amy, smiled over at Bella's bunk, until her eyes nearly bugged out at the sight of a newcomer. With all of the fans going last night for the heat, and with the concrete walls that surrounded the dorm, it had been a small miracle Bella had heard Edward at all.

"Bella! Who's our new friend, and does she know where I could get a bootleg copy of the new _Muse _album without squealing on me? I'm about to die without my music! Does she know anything about computers? Maybe she could help us get around the internet curfew? Oh! Can she tutor us in for our language class so that I don't keep ordering the huge dish of ice cream instead of one scoop?" Bella giggled, and sat up to introduce Alice to Amy. "Amy, may I have the pleasure of introducing you to my new friend Alice. Alice – this is Amy, and don't help her sneak a single thing into this dorm without asking me first, ok?" Alice nodded her head solemnly, and smiled a sweet 'hello' at Amy.

It wasn't long before Alice, Amy and Bella all walked down to the dining room for breakfast. Bella felt all of the eyes on them as they walked into the line to fill their bowls with cereal. She sighed, and realized she'd have to talk to the headmaster of the school as soon as she finished filling her tray with food. Alice put her hand on Bella's for a moment, and smiled before she whispered "It will be ok, Bella. I know this." Bella raised her eyebrows at Alice with a questioning glance. How could she possibly know the outcome? Alice just smiled, and looked down at her tray.

After she couldn't procrastinate any longer, Bella asked Amy to take Alice to eat at a table with the least amount of students; then she made her own way toward the headmaster's table. He was studying his lessons for the day, and grading papers as she approached. When she was only a few steps away from his table, he looked up and smiled at Bella. "So, I see we have an extra student this morning. Bella, do you want to tell me what's going on, please?" Bella cringed at the kindness in his voice, because she didn't really want to tell him the entire truth as she knew it, for fear he would think badly of Alice. Where was she supposed to begin, and where should she end?

"Oh, Bella! How's Alice this morning? Will Edward be joining us for breakfast?" Bella turned around to see David's smirking face, and his breakfast tray also in his hands. He put his tray down on one side of the headmaster, and pulled out a chair for Bella on the other side. Bella had to start picturing the happiest times of her life so that she didn't enter the arena with her fists in the air – that wouldn't bode well for Alice.

The headmaster raised his right hand in David's direction to quieten him, and then he turned politely toward Bella. "Bella, please just tell me what's happened, and we'll see what to make of this, alright?" David brooded like a little boy as he began to eat his breakfast. "Well, sir, her name is Alice. My friend who helped me get to the school the day I arrived met her last night, and found out she had nowhere to go. He was worried about her welfare, and he didn't know anyone else here, so he brought her to me." She's said all of that in one breath, and then quickly added: "Uh, I realize this is highly irregular for someone who's only been here for a few days and I apologize for that, sir. If we need to stay somewhere else, I'm sure we'll be ok – but I'd really like to continue taking my classes, if I may.." The headmaster's smile grew, and his eyes twinkled before he let a chuckle escape. He had several daughters, all of whom he'd never been able to refuse their wishes, within reason..and sometimes, though he would deny it, beyond reason.

"Miss Swan," he cleared his throat, and seemed to be searching very carefully for the words he wanted to use. "Bella, this is not only highly irregular for someone who's been here for a few days – it's never been done! I don't know what the protocol should be here, we have the extra room, but who will pay for her board? What will she do while you're in classes?"

Bella realized she hadn't really thought this through, but there was no going back. "Sir, I'm sure there's something Alice can do – I can help her while I'm not in classes. She's native to this country, so I thought she could help some of us girls work on our language studies?" The headmaster leaned back from the table, and stared at Bella for a moment, as if he were only seeing her for the first time. "You're willing to work, in addition to your studies to help pay for Alice's board?" Bella nodded, whole heartedly. "Yes, sir – She has nowhere to go, and I promised her I'd do my best to keep us from being separated. The very notion frightens her, and I'm afraid if she were to leave, there's no telling what may happen to her."

The headmaster nodded his head approvingly, and smiled. "Alright Bella, here's what we'll do. You keep Alice with you for the morning. I'll call the native languages teacher and ask him to bring his wife along today after lunch. As soon as they get here, I'll ask her to talk with Alice and see if she feels that Alice would be a good addition here to our school family – and vice versa. Does this plan sound agreeable to you?"

David got up from the table, and stalked off after he'd tossed his garbage in the rubbish bin. It was his day to help in the kitchen with dishes. Bella smiled, and nodded – Alice wasn't fully welcomed to stay yet, but neither had she been turned away. Bella scooted her chair back, and lunged at the headmaster to give him a hug. "Thank you! I promise we'll try to help out extra to pay for Alice's place here!" The headmaster smiled, and shook his head. "Bella, no decisions have been made yet, remember that, ok?" She nodded, and ran to the table where Alice sat with Amy. Once they saw the smile on her face, Amy reached over and hugged Alice while she screamed something about the three of them taking a backpack trip to Tibet on their next school holiday. The three of them giggled as they rushed to finish breakfast before the bell rang out to start classes for the day.

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_A/N: So...yea. There ya go. Don't hate me, it was like cutting my own heart out to do those dark things to Edward..the poor guy has a lot of ancient history to deal with. The Alice of the original series holds such a special place in my heart, she's just amazing...and I thought it was high time she showed up in this story. Thanks to my story's few faithful followers, and my friend Roxi who proofs the storyline..Thank **you** for reading!! :)_

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	8. Exposition, Emptiness and an Empath

Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer. I don't own Bella, Edward, or even David. I DO own a rather extensive baby name book because I enjoy name studies, even though I normally forget the meanings shortly after I read them. I DID order pizza in an Asian country, and YES, it was good! I've never met a soldier who looked like Edward, but I'm always open for new adventures!! ;)

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Chapter: 8

"Exposition, Emptiness and an Empath"

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{Song: "Gary Noise" - Linus Blanket}

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When Edward got back to his room that night, he sank to his bed and laid there, as if he were in a trance. He couldn't believe what he'd nearly done. After having lied there for countless hours, he fished around in his duffle until he found his cell phone. He opened it, and before he could talk himself out of it, he dialed the last phone number he wanted to.

On the third ring, Edward frowned. Maybe this was a really bad idea – and he nearly hung up until a very groggy guy with a southern accent answered on the other side. "Edward, man – do you know what time it is?" Edward smirked. If he was going to do something his cousin was partially to blame for, Jasper was going to be here to suffer any consequences along with him.

"Of course I do, I wanted to be sure you would answer." Edward heard some rude mumbling on the other side, and his smirk turned into a smile. He hadn't really planned on waking up Jasper, he'd forgotten about the time zones...not that he'd really cared enough to look at any clocks before he called his cousin.

Jasper seemed to snap out of it, and realized the one person who never called him was on the other side of a very expensive phone call. It dawned on Edward that Jasper didn't even know where he was, apparently at the same time as Jasper seemed to have an idea of a proper comeback. "Edward, man – stop wallowing. I can feel you through the phone and you're all dead black roses and stuff." Edward rolled his eyes. He didn't believe in Jasper's supposed "Empath" abilities.

"Jasper, look, this really can't be too long..Uh.. Can you get your stupid un-used passport and catch a flight if I have a ticket waiting for you at the counter?" Edward winced, he hadn't left on the best terms with Jasper. He heard a sharp intake of breath on the other side, until he could picture Jasper's own sarcastic smirk. "Oh, now you _need _me there, is that it? Seriously, insulting my pristine condition passport is low, Edward. Beyond that, you do realize you could have just texted me to be at the airport and I'm there, right?" Edward's shoulders felt much lighter. He had no idea what he would find on the trip that he was planning, and he was beginning to see holes in his previously well-thought plan, yet he didn't really care.

"Jasper. Look, if you don't want to come, you don't have to. I'm just saying this is all your fault, and I ne— er, uh, I don't need to go into this jungle alone, alright?" Edward was scratching the invisible itch at the back of his neck when he heard Jasper's guffaws on the other side. "Yea, yea – blame the messenger. Dude, I'm there – I'll text you my info. Hang up and text me the skinny when it's all ready – I might as well get up and get a shower now so I can pack, thanks a lot. See ya soon." Then, the line went dead. At first, Edward wanted to be angry with Jasper for hanging up on him..until he realized that the battery in his phone had died. He shook his head, and fished around in his bag for the charger.

After he turned his phone off so that it wouldn't be roaming, he plugged it in for the short time that it took to splash some water on his face and change his clothes. Then, Edward headed to the airport to make a flight plan for Jasper. Edward smiled, things were truly simplified so much with air travel since the internet came into everyday life. He had Jasper's e-tickets e-mailed to him, and then went to a coffee shop, where they had a place to plug his phone in to text a message to Jasper. All he had to do now was wait.

And wait..and wait.

It would take Jasper a day to get there, and Edward decided to cut himself off when he finished his fourth cup of coffee. At least his phone was now fully charged, he thought to himself as he rose from his corner seat the farthest from the front windows of the building. As Edward was walking toward the exit, he felt an electric hum telling him either he was about to be struck by lightening, or else Bella was somewhere in the vicinity. His eyes darted in every direction once he stepped outside the door, and the electric hum got stronger.

He finally spotted Bella across the street. She came into view, and then was hidden again with every stride of the guy named Donald..or Darius; whichever. She was laughing, and they were holding hands as they walked down the pavement opposite him. Edward heard himself growl, and felt his hands clench into fists. He tried to tell himself it didn't matter, and Bella wasn't his to stake a claim on like some barbaric caveman; but it didn't work. Bella turned and stopped walking when she saw Edward. She pulled her hand from Daniel's, and ran toward Edward with a smile on her face.

"Edward!" She breathed his name as she was trying to inhale at the same time. "How are you? How is your trip going? You remember David, right? We're headed to meet up with the rest of the group to have some pizza for dinner, do you want to come with us?" Her voice was flippantly polite, but her eyes told a different story. Her eyes were begging, and Edward wanted to laugh at his own insecurities. Of course she hadn't decided to settle for Devon, he wasn't her type. Edward wasn't really sure what her type was, but he was certain Derrick wasn't it.

The longer it took him to answer, the more hopeful Damien seemed to become. Edward's stomach growled, and he smiled at Bella with a smile that he hoped looked sheepish, and not as though he nearly took Dustin's head off of his shoulders. "Silly Bella. You come all the way around the world, just to order a pizza? Are you and your little missionary friends crazy?" Bella shrugged, and jutted her thumb in Darwin's direction. "It was David's idea. He and a few of the other students aren't really enjoying the local fare. I have found for myself, there aren't any variations of cashew chicken I don't like."

Edward smiled at Dennis, and offered Bella his arm as if they had stepped back two hundred years in time. "I didn't have anything else to do until my cousin gets here, so sure.. What's your favourite pizza toppings, Dudley?" Dillon's eyes hardened, and he scowled at Edward. Bella cleared her throat, and shook her head at Edward. Douglas was fuming, when he spoke in a syrupy polite tone. "Edward, my name is David; As in the one who fought the Philistines." Edward tried to act as though he was embarrassed when he apologized for his mistake; then he began to whistle the tune of a song he'd been taught as a child. It wasn't long before Bella was giggling, and singing along with his whistling. David looked like he didn't much care for the song, but he was walking behind Bella and she couldn't see his expression.

"_Only a boy named David, only a little sling. Only a boy named David – but he could pray and sing..only a boy named David – only a rippling brook. Only a boy named David, but five little stones he took..."_

David announced their arrival at the restaurant a little louder than he needed to, and the singing stopped. Edward smirked at Dagwood as he held the door open for Bella. If that was the way David wanted to play it, Edward felt sorry for him. He wondered vaguely if the poor guy even realized he was in the bottomless pit otherwise known as the "friend-zone" since the first time he met Bella and offered her ice cream as a "We forgot you and left you to find your own way here" consolation prize. No woman would date a guy who left her to her own devices in a foreign country, no matter how much pizza, or ice cream you fed her, Edward was sure.

Once they reached the table of other students who had obviously been waiting for a short while, Edward's suspicions were confirmed. Dilbert didn't have a clue. He would just flounder around until he found another bottomless pit to stumble into. Edward shrugged. It was just as well – Bella and Darrel..The names didn't even go together.

"Bella! We were wondering if you and David got lost or something! Bring on the pizza! Hey! Does anybody else want to go shopping on the way back tonight?" All of the girls raised their hands, and the unidentified girl who had spoken so loudly laughed until she saw Edward standing there, holding out Bella's chair for her. He smiled as he pulled out the chair from another table, and settled it between Darnell and Bella. Bella looked from the unidentified girl to Edward, and back again, before she laughed. "Everyone, this is Edward. Edward, this is everyone. The loud-mouth shop-a-holic is one of my dearest friends, Amy."

Amy's eyes seemed to glaze over momentarily, before she loudly whispered "Bella! He's even hotter than you said!!!" across the table. Edward turned to Bella and smirked as he chuckled to himself. For _that_ bit of information, Edward was willing to buy anything for Amy in the night market they were planning to peruse on the way back to the school. He loudly whispered back to Amy across the table: "Hey, Amy! For that little bit of information, anything in the market short of being an elephant or tiger – it's yours." Amy giggled and clapped her hands as the pizza was served. She looked across at Bella and made a face at her. "Lighten up, Bella – you know we can't buy anything right now anyway; but there's never anything wrong with window shopping!" Edward was confused, were they still talking about shopping in the marketplace?

After David had finished praying over the food, Bella still had her head bowed, and she covered her eyes with her hands. Edward was looking at her with a puzzled expression on his face when she finally placed her left hand politely in her lap, and reached for pizza with her right. She was trying extremely hard to avoid any eye contact, and then nearly dropped her pizza in her lap when he whispered in her left ear. "Bella? Why can you only window-shop?" She shivered as his breath tickled her ear, and then she smiled a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Because, Edward – we all made a vow. While we're still enrolled in the school, we're not allowed to date or court anyone. Some of the students are engaged, but they had to put their relationships on hold while they're here."

First, he was angry; until he realized this meant none of the male students were his competition. Theycould "window shop", but were bound to the same vow. He smiled back at Bella kindly, and whispered in her ear again. "Oh, so this evens the playing field. When do you wear the cap and gown?" Bella elbowed him in the ribs. "It would take 2 years to wear a cap and gown. I'm only here for six months." Edward's eyes danced with amusement. "Oh, so you're all drop-outs before you even begin? That's new." Bella rolled her eyes at him, and put a piece of pizza on the plate in front of him before she answered. "We're not drop outs, a lot of us will most likely end up signing back on for more semesters. I only signed up for one semester because that's all they could spare me at work." Edward sighed and started to eat his pizza. He realized there was so much about Bella he still didn't know yet.

Bella's neck crooked in his direction, and she had a puzzled look on her face. "Edward? Did you say something earlier about your cousin meeting you? I thought you were here to get away from everything?" Edward nearly beat his head on the table. He hadn't meant to let that slip. The last thing he needed to do was introduce his cousin of the same faith to Bella. Out of anyone he'd ever met, he would have to say Jasper was the best possible match for Bella. Then again, Father Jasper hadn't been swayed in all of the twenty-two years of his life. Edward smiled, he saw how this could be worked to his advantage with Bella. "Yea, uh – he's had his passport since he turned nineteen, but he hasn't ever had a chance to use it. After he found out where I was, he wanted to come and join me here. I didn't really have anything going, so I said he could come over and hang out with his older cousin whom he thinks hung the stars." Bella and Amy smiled at each other across the table. Amy was the first to speak. "Edward! Bella said you didn't have any brothers, and that kinda bummed me out – but does your cousin look anything like you?"

Edward laughed and shook his head. "No. That's not really likely, he's adopted. He has blonde hair, and is a civil war re-enactment nerd. Last year, he took a bayonet in the shin. Even my aunt and uncle laughed at him when he came home with the stitches that Uncle Carlisle had to sew up for him on the field as a souvenir." Amy rolled her eyes, and mumbled something about Bella having all the luck. Edward winked at Amy, and quickly added: "Oh, and he's studying to become a minister. He's just a fake soldier on several Saturdays out of the year." Amy winked back. "Oh, in that case – when do we get to meet him?" Edward drank a little of his limeade to keep the girls in suspense a little longer than necessary. "Oh, he's coming in tomorrow on the first flight in. Would you like to meet him, Amy? I could arrange that, before we head off for the mountains to live like the resourceful manly men that we are."

Amy clapped her hands and squealed. Bella shook her head at Edward and told him he didn't know what he'd gotten himself into. Edward shrugged. An introduction between Jasper and Amy would afford him another visit with Bella. He didn't care if he was being unrealistic about things, there was something special about Bella. It was as if around her, a weight was lifted and he could breathe. She was like a drug, and he couldn't get enough of her.

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A/N: I realize this story seems to be getting updates slower and slower, as if we're walking uphill...but, siriously – I'm getting ready to embark on my second trip to Asia in a couple of weeks!! Also, I apologize if you get multiple e-mails of this story being updated..I never seem to find my boo-boos until it's been uploaded and updated! ^_^


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